What is a Quadriplegic?
Simply, a person who is paralyzed in both arms and both legs. It's caused very easily, you have damaged your spinal column and cord, by either breaking the cord clean, or as in the case of my father, bruising the cord. Quadriplegic's will refer to themselves as quads.
There are many conditions that make up a quadriplegic, you may see a Spastic Quadriplegic, Spastic Triplegic (3 limbs go spastic), Spastic Hemiplegic (one whole side of the body goes spastic), Spastic Monoplegic (only one limb is spastic), an upside down quad (has leg movement, possibly can walk, but no upper body strength), a series of injuries and resulting conditions depending on the height of the injury. My father, much like Christopher Reeve, was a high quad. Other quads maybe lower, giving them a variety of different capabilities. This all depends as well on whether this was a clean break or a bruising type injury.
My father was a high quadriplegic, but he suffered bruising of the spinal column, so he had a fighting chance of recover. In fact, the doctors felt so strongly about his recovery, they sedated him, and caused him to be asleep for 30 days so that he would not move at all. They also gave him a medicine that paralyzed him so that even in his sleep there would be no minor movements. Of course, as we found out when he woke, this didn't completely work, but we were left with hope that he would become an upside down quad. Someone that might even be able to walk, but suffer low upper body strength.
The importance with being a quadriplegic, for health and lifestyle reasons, is obviously to have as much of your spinal column and cord work after rehabilitation if rehabilitation is even possible. My father was lucky and unlucky at the same time. Due to his upside down nature of being a quad, he was able to feel quite a bit in his extremities and body. This helped for things like early detection of bed sores - which can kill - as well as circulation issues in his limbs. However, the tremendously crappy part about this, you feel things you can't fix. If he hurt or got a charlie horse, or a spasm, he couldn't do anything about it. If he had an itch he couldn't scratch it.
My father by 6 months into his injury, did get off the breathing tube and recovered quite a bit of movement in his arms. He stopped progressing in walking, but eventually was able to even feed himself, that is until the spasms of being a Spastic Quadriplegic took over and he lost that too.
Being a quadriplegic, my father made the very best of the life he had for those 10 years. He very rarely was serious about being a quadriplegic and truly embraced his condition. He became an extensive volunteer, advocate, and even a pastor.
Showing posts with label paralyzed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paralyzed. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Disabled Confronting Further Cuts In The Future
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| Where Does All Our Tax Money Go? |
The new information coming out is that the government agency, the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, will work to take resources from tens of thousands of people who are dependent on the services it provides this coming year. This New Year could set tens of thousands away from help; Quadriplegics, Paraplegics, mentally handicapped, and other non-able bodied individuals are going to be effected. The organization is proclaiming that the finances will have to see an increase of tens of millions if they are not provided exactly the same appropriations. Federally mandated Medicaid programs which cover those whom are significantly impaired, who live in institutions and the ones with mental retardation or head and spinal cord traumas who obtain scientifically essential therapy, will be spared. Many applications that might be reduced are daycare type programs for all groups, childhood testing for problems that can lead to developing afflictions and treatment for many who have sustained mind or spinal-cord injuries. I hope these details get to everybody in need of assistance that is terrifying info.
I will hope that many resources continue to pop up to help out those in needs. I could not imagine what this is gong to mean for so many. I think back about my father and how this would effect his treatment.
Monday, April 18, 2011
His Abilities Never Stopped Amazing Me
His abilities continued to amaze me every day.
My father was always talented. He was a very unique man. He was self taught in everything and became very accomplished in most of what he set out to do. He was technically minded, but he had the soul of an artist.
Unfortunately, my father did not leave a lot of time in his able-bodied life to explore what he might accomplish with his artistic abilities. He spent most of his days and time, when not working, with his family, playing with us kids, getting into mischief.
Once my father became a quad, there was an abundance of time. He began to explore more in depth those things that he seemed to not have the time for as an able-bodied man. It saddens me sometimes when I think about what he (and my mother for that matter) gave up in their personal lives to be amazing parents to us.
Now that I am a father, I look to my parents as examples. I find myself in the same contradiction, facing the laundry, cleaning the house, getting ready for one of her events, and finding little time to continue to explore the areas of interest that I have. I would not have it any other way, and I believe truly that is what my father felt, which without fail, lifts my spirits when I begin to think of what he gave up in his able-bodied life.
As a quadriplegic, my father grew greatly in his art. I am in the process of capturing digitally all that he did. He became a painter, worked with glass, and stamped out images on tin. He made cards for all seasons, and began to teach himself perspective drawing.
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| Mouth Painting - Dennis Flynn Stinson III |
My father was always talented. He was a very unique man. He was self taught in everything and became very accomplished in most of what he set out to do. He was technically minded, but he had the soul of an artist.
Unfortunately, my father did not leave a lot of time in his able-bodied life to explore what he might accomplish with his artistic abilities. He spent most of his days and time, when not working, with his family, playing with us kids, getting into mischief.
Once my father became a quad, there was an abundance of time. He began to explore more in depth those things that he seemed to not have the time for as an able-bodied man. It saddens me sometimes when I think about what he (and my mother for that matter) gave up in their personal lives to be amazing parents to us.
Now that I am a father, I look to my parents as examples. I find myself in the same contradiction, facing the laundry, cleaning the house, getting ready for one of her events, and finding little time to continue to explore the areas of interest that I have. I would not have it any other way, and I believe truly that is what my father felt, which without fail, lifts my spirits when I begin to think of what he gave up in his able-bodied life.
As a quadriplegic, my father grew greatly in his art. I am in the process of capturing digitally all that he did. He became a painter, worked with glass, and stamped out images on tin. He made cards for all seasons, and began to teach himself perspective drawing.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Abilities Expo - L.A. Convention Center
Image by wili_hybrid via FlickrSo, who is going to be attending this event! It starts on the 15th and ends on the 17th!
This is going to be a great place to see all the new technology out there. A place to learn, a place to watch great events, and attend great workshops!
If you are going to the event, I would love to hear from you and your reports of the event itself!
I look forward to seeing you out there!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I became a Quadriplegic Too
I became a Quad too. My dad was not the only one that was now a quadriplegic.
The minute I got the news that my father was in the hospital, my life changed as much as his was about to. There at the hospital, late into the night, I sat and watched as my father began to lose his bodily functions. First, it was his feet. Then it was his legs. Then it was his hips and the loss of sensation in his abdomen. It continued like this hour after hour, until at least 12 hours had gone by and he stopped breathing. I was next to him. His panic-stricken eyes, searching in me for help, and then frantically dashing around the room, trying to find help. The nurses ran in, threw me aside, and began the intubation process. Once he was on the machine, they put him on medicines that kept him asleep and caused him to forget the event all together. It would be over 30 days before I would see him open his eyes again.
When he awoke, it set in; my dad was a quadriplegic now. I would go on to work day and night in all my free time trying to figure out how to save him, how to bring him back to the super dad that I grew up with, to keep him from this vegetable state. Many people surrounded him and me through these years, but no one really stopped to look at what I was doing, including myself. I became a quadriplegic too, not in the physical sense, but mentally. I stopped in many regards, figuring out my life. I did a lot to work on my emotions, to attempt to battle the pain I was going through, developing my spiritual senses. I worked very hard to become the best employee I knew how in my career, but the inner me, my true voice, was being thrown aside.
I blame no one; it is what we call life. It was very uncomfortable for me to talk about my feelings of anger and hurt. How is it fair I tell anyone of how bad I am feeling when my father is now a human pillow. The guilt I would create (me and me alone, my father was never one to apply guilt onto me) surrounding this cyclical thought path, became a destructive part of me I have told no one about: feeling bad for my father, then for me, then mad at myself for feeling sorry for myself, when I was the able bodied, and he was the quadriplegic. On the surface, it would be impossible at best to tell this was my inner demon. I have arguably done well professionally, I was married almost 5 years ago, to which we purchased a home and are on our second child. However, it is just today that I am realizing how paralyzed I truly was through all of this and to some extent still am.
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