Post by tonka on May 7, 2015 6:28:21 GMT -8
One of my accomplishments after my SCI was earning a masters degree in counseling psychology, being licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist and working in the SCI unit of the same hospital I did my rehab in 9 years before. One of the things I've found helpful is telling my story. I encourage anyone reading this to tell your story. What are your do over points? What choices would you have made differently?
I've had a lot of things I wish I could "do over" during my 67 years on this earth but I'll stick with the 35 years I've survived with a spinal crd injury. Firstly and most importantly, I wish I could do over October 30, 1980...
A warm autumn day in sunny coastal California I remember as yesterday... I got off work at 2 PM and was antsy and the day was too nice to not be outside. I took my chainsaw and jumped in the truck and headed to a ranch where I planned to cut firewood. I found a large oak with a broken off limb with 25 or so 8" diameter smaller limbs, just right for the fireplace. I'd made several cuts when the saw bound up and I turned to run. The big limb was rolling...one of the small limbs from the far side of the tree hit me like a hammer hitting a nail. It started on the top of my shoulders, raked down my back and came to rest on top of my hips removing a good amount of skin along the way.
My first feeling was that my legs felt like hot jello. I figured I'd broken my pelvis and never suspected by lumbar vertebra had been crushed and my left lung punctured by severely broken ribs. If I knew then what I know now about life with a spinal cord injury I might have made some different choices... Hit the do over button please!
After 4 hours I was able to attract the attention of a nearby farmer who call 911. From there it was a bit of a morphine haze. I remember being loaded on an Air Force Huey and air lifted to a hospital. Something about the 20 mile ride over rough ranch roads the paramedics figured I wouldn't make it. I woke up in ICU strapped on a Stryker frame (a torture device eft over from the Civil War) sandwiched between two frame parts. The nurses said something about it was time to "flip" me over, one two, three, AWWWWWH! Being pressed between 2 halves of the Stryker with broken ribs and a punctured lung was more painful than anything I could imagine.
That was the start of my life with SCI. If I could do over I would buy a cord of firewood, stayed home after work and enjoyed an adult beverage!
Beauty is only skin deep after all, it simply fades in time, what counts is what is internal, a strong mind and will, a kind heart that loves and a gentle spirit is beautiful..