Spinal cord injury and paralysis - need some info please

I had a male friend once who was a paraplegic. I met him after his accident, so I can't help you with the hospital details, but I can tell you a few things about his life.

He lived in an apartment complex that was built for wheelchair access - everything from low cabinets, to wide doors, to a special shower "area" where you could shower from a chair. He had his own car, which had special hand controls for accelerating and braking, since he couldn't use his legs. He had little trouble pulling himself in and out of the car between his wheelchair and the car seat. Once inside the car, he could collapse his wheelchair and it would be hooked onto some special mechanism that lifted it up to a topper on the roof of the car, which would slide open and closed by a special switch on the dashboard. He was also able to lift himself enough to shift his body to and from the wheelchair to his bed. Whenever he moved himself from place to place, once he had moved his body, he would have to literally pick up his legs one at a time and move them to position them where he wanted them. He did mention something about having muscle spasms at times, and it seems I can remember seeing a leg slip out of place occasionally. I don't know if there was an actual "feeling" involved when that happened. He also used to mention that he would always dream about himself running or otherwise using his legs.

Probably the worst part of his paralyzed existence was dealing with his bladder and bowels. I think he was on some kind of medication to "make things happen". He had a set time of day when he would have to sit in his bathroom for that, so he kept a phone and books in there. Sometimes it took a long time, and he would be running late to go places, or miss out on things completely. He used a catheter on himself at certain times of the day to take care of his bladder, and he would occasionally end up sick with bladder infections.

Overall, his independence was very important to him. His parents had modifications done on their house in order to accommodate him - ramp outside, wide bathroom door, toilet with railing, etc. He had an older sister who used to make over him too much, and he hated that. And also, he was in a serious relationship at the time of his accident, but after a while his girlfriend just couldn't deal with it anymore and left him.

I hope some of this has been helpful.

...limegreensky

She would probably know that something was wrong...loss of sensation below the point where she was hurt, but she would need the doctors to confirm it for her, to let her know how bad the damage was, etc.

Spinal cord injuries are classified several different ways...most commonly by the level at which the injury occured. The spinal cord is divided into several segments.
Cervical (neck and upper back) 8 segments
Thoracic (back) 12 segments
Lumbar (low back) 5 segments
Sacral (base of spine and tailbone area) 2 segments

Any injury that occurred in the cervical spine would have an effect on the shoulder and arm muscles. When I was studying spinal cord injuries in school, my classmates and I decided if we ever (God forbid) had a spinal cord injury we would want it to be a C8 or lower, because anything higher than that would leave you without the use of your triceps muscles, which is used for extension, which is how you can pull yourself to your wheelchair and pull yourself into the wheelchair and basically have optimal use of your arms.

If you have an injury of the T7-T9 spine you wouldn't have upper abdominals
If you have an injury of the T9-T12 your wouldn't have use of your lower abdominals
If you have an injury that is at or above C4, your character would probably be on a ventilator for breathing. The level at which your character is injured affects their ability of which muscles they can use. If you want your character to have full use of their arms, you need them to have an injury in the thoracic spine.

Spinal cord injuries are usually permanent, due to the fact that the spinal cord swells and the tissues get compressed and die. Your brain and spinal cord do not regenerate or grow new tissue, so what you lose remains gone.

Most people with spinal cord injuries are discharged from the hospital and go to a long term rehab program to deal with day to day living. The best one I know of is the Shepard Spinal Center in Atlanta, which is super comprehensive. It even has a set up of a kitchen for a handicapped person. This is where SCI (spinal cord injury) patients get occupational therapy, physical therapy and the like...the focus is getting them ready to function in their home environment.

Using a wheelchair, again, would take longer for someone who had a more serious injury (higher up on the spinal cord). Also, depending on the severity of the injury, the main character would need a certain type of chair. Standard wheelchairs are for anyone who has a level C7 or lower. Anything above that level would need modifications.

If she has an incomplete spinal cord injury, she could have some sensation or motor function below the level of their injury.

I spoke with a person who had a spinal cord injury at C5 and he told me that the most difficult part was dealing with the bowel and bladder dysfunction. Your MC might have to be cathaterized, which they can learn to do themselves if they have full use of their arms and hands. Or they can use other means to void, including timed voiding schedules and manual stimulation. He also said it was hard getting to the gym to exercise and getting his car outfitted for him to be able to drive.

I hope I didn't give you too much info, I tried to make this as simple as possible. If you have any more questions or if something I said isn't clear, please private message me and let me know if I can help. I work in physical therapy, so I can get the information for you if you need it.

Good luck!

hi, this may be a bit late, but if you haven't seen it i recommend watching the film 'murderball ' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436613/
it's not only a fantastic film, it gives you an amazing insight into life with a spinal cord injury. from what i remember a lot of these guys are very open in describing their accident, finding out about their injury, recovering/adapting, day to day life with a spinal cord injury. i found it pretty inspiring.

Thanks! I've heard about Murderball, but haven't been able to find it locally (in South Africa). By the time it gets here fom the US it will be time for next year's Nano!!

Thanks anyway. And yes, I' getting a crash course in SCI and still hoping to finish. Only about 10,000 words a day needed!

Cali,
ML for Gauteng, South Africa

Hi,

The reply from Morcalivan was actually from me! We were at a write-in and using the same computer.

Thanks for the answers in this thread!