Monday – 9/20/2010

“Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.”

How true is this quote?! I am sure at one point, several points, in our lives we have all wanted to start over. I know I have. Obviously, we can’t go back and do things over, but as this quote suggests we can start now and do things right. This reminds me of an old poster I used to stare at while sitting in the orthodontist’s chair when I was younger. It was a poster of a winding river carving its way through a canyon. The inscription at the bottom read, “if you find you’re going in the wrong direction, make a U-turn.” That always stuck with me for some reason, and I think it’s great advice for all of us.

As frustrating and challenging as my days can be, I do think I am headed in the right direction. I was at Metro again on Friday for my checkup. Everything went well and I will be back there one week from Tuesday to have my Cough Assist System finally turned on!  One more step in the right direction. I had a chance to visit with the young woman again suffering from a spinal cord injury. She seems to be doing better every time I see her, and is also slowly moving in the right direction.

Today one of the nurses here told me about a young couple who experienced a severe tragedy in Indiana this past weekend. A young man and his girlfriend were sitting on a hammock when the tree supporting it suddenly snapped. The young woman, a freshman in college, was killed instantly. The young man, a senior, suffered a severe spinal cord injury. He is currently on a ventilator, paralyzed from the shoulders down, lying on a bed in a Fort Wayne hospital. How is someone supposed to make sense of all this? I ask myself that all the time. The random chaos and happenings of our lives are so unpredictable and uncontrollable. I had to break my neck to learn that lesson — I can control my actions, but I cannot control the actions around me. Sometimes, no matter how cautious we may be, bad things will happen. The above story is a perfect example that illustrates this point. After reading this story I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t imagine what that kid is feeling right now. I’d ask everyone to keep him and his family in your prayers. In fact, please pray for all those suffering from a spinal cord injury.

Since my injury it seems as if each week I hear of a new person experiencing a spinal cord injury. It seems to be all around me. Before my injury, Christopher Reeve was the most high profile person with a spinal injury I knew of. I can’t really recall knowing that many others. Of course, I had heard of Dennis Byrd (where I also learned of the Romans biblical passage I carry with me) and his accident. And I was familiar with Ron Kovic’s injury from the movie Born on the Fourth Of July. But that was it. Now, I seem to learn of a new one every week. Are that many more happening, am I just more aware, or is more coverage be given to these incidents? There are about 307 million people in the United States today. There are roughly 8000 new spinal cord injuries every year. That means there is a 0.003% chance that anyone of us could experience an injury. That number is cut in half for Complete injuries like mine. That means I had a 0.001% chance of breaking my neck. I think I would have better odds trying to win the lottery — twice! And yet, why do I keep hearing about so many injuries? It is my hope that there is some good that will come out of all this. I hope that society’s awareness of these injuries and the devastating effect, they not only have on the individuals, but also their families, will increase. Hopefully, it will prompt more funding, more research and more experimentation towards finding a cure.

Next week Massachusetts will celebrate a Spinal Cord Awareness Day. The UK celebrated one in May and the city of Mumbai celebrated one in June. As far as I know, there is no national Spinal Cord Awareness Day that everyone in the country can partake in. Because there are less than 10,000 spinal cord injuries each year, it is considered an orphan affliction. This means that it does not receive a significant amount of federal funding. The last thing I would want to his hope is that more people get injured each year, so there is more awareness and thus more funding. Rather, I would like to think that through organizations, activists, science, etc. the appropriate funding will be made available. The scientific community and medical community are both abuzz about the possibility of finding a cure for paralysis over the next several years. However, more needs to be done in the near term to ever hope to make this a reality. I have not yet decided how I plan to make my voice heard, but will find a way to get actively involved in helping all spinal cord patients gain greater awareness and care. I would encourage all of you to also find a way if you feel so inclined to do so.

All of us who have suffered a spinal injury cannot go back and receive a brand-new start, we can however keep moving in the right direction, working to create a better brand-new ending.

I’ll like to thank all of you for thoughts and prayers, not just for me, but for all of us living with a spinal injury. I can speak for the entire community when I tell you how much we appreciate your support!

Scott