Quality of Life: What’s Important

Researchers have much data showing that people with spinal cord injuries have a high quality of life. Many people are surprised by this. “How can spinal cord injury survivors have all the problems they do with their health, their finances, their mobility and independence, and with getting jobs and personal care assistants, and still claim that they are happy and their quality of life is good?” they ask. “How can everything seem so good when compared to others, things are so bad?” Continue Reading »

Little Great Race participants to take big strides for area man

Like hundreds of other people, Frankie Gogol will be a spectator at the annual Little Great Race in Charleroi on Saturday, Sept. 10. But Gogol, of North Charleroi, will have more than just a passing interest in the runners and walkers in the event.

Gogol, 27, suffered a severe life-changing spinal cord injury last year when he fell from a tree stand while deer hunting with a neighbor, Gary DeUnger, at North Charleroi Recreation Park.

Proceeds from the Little Great Race will go to Gogol and his family to help with mounting medical expenses that have climbed well into six figures in the past nine months. Continue Reading »

Statement of Solidarity on 15Th Anniversary of Americans With Disabilities

Fifteen years ago today, with bipartisan support in Congress and broad endorsements from the civil rights coalition, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), calling for the “shameful wall of exclusion” to come tumbling down. As we mark this significant anniversary, we celebrate improvements in access to polling places and the secret ballot, government services and programs, transportation, public places, communication and information technology. Parents pushing strollers, workers delivering packages, and travelers pulling roller bags have grown accustomed to curb cuts, ramps, and other accessibility features less common in 1990. Our country is more accessible today thanks to the ADA, and all Americans are better off. Continue Reading »

Unsupervised Trampoline Use Contributes to Jump in Children’s Injuries

Orthopaedic Surgeons Offer Tips to Avoid Trampoline Dangers

ROSEMONT, Ill., June 13 /PRNewswire/ — Trampolines are now rivaling swing sets and sandboxes as the staple in American backyards. While these seemingly harmless structures can provide endless outdoor amusement for children and adults, they can also cause serious injury — and in some cases even death — if proper precautions are not taken. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), backyard trampolines sent more than 211,000 kids between the ages of 0 and 19 to hospitals, doctors’ offices and clinics in 2003, translating into nearly $4.2 billion in medical, work-loss, pain and suffering and legal costs. Continue Reading »

Barrier-Free Travel – Book

Barrier-Free Travel: A Nuts And Bolts Guide For Wheelers And Slow Walkers, 2nd Edition Candy Harrington

Authored by the editor of the leading travel magazine for people with disabilities, Emerging Horizons, this second edition of Barrier Free Travel continues to be the definitive guide to accessible travel for those who use a wheelchair, walker, or cane or have any physical ailment that may slow down their gait. It is a well-researched resource that contains detailed information about the logistics of planning accessible travel by plane, train, bus, and ship. It contains resources, travel tips, and updated information about accessible travel options. Continue Reading »

Spinal cord unit provides support for whole family

HOWLAND — Patients touch balloons, pick up bean bags and tighten bolts in Forum Health Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital’s Occupational Therapy room.

They are part of a new program, the Spinal Cord Injury Center of Excellence, which opened May 12.

Rebecca LeBron, clinical supervisor of occupational and recreational therapy, said the hospital spent the past three years preparing to be a center of excellence. Continue Reading »

How to Start Support or Discussion Group

We frequently receive calls for information on local support groups. Although there are thousands of people with all over the US, there are not always support groups for those that want them. Support groups provide a valuable service not only for counseling and support, but also for socializing and information sharing. “Old timers” have information to share with newer injuries, and groups have more influence with vendors or medical professionals to present information and products. If there is not a support group in the area, people frequently ask how they can start one in their area. The process of beginning a support group can initially seem daunting, however, it is easier if we break it into little pieces — what I call the five P’s:

People, Planning, Place, Publicity and Programming. Continue Reading »

SCI Rehabilitation

It is very important to be confident about the quality of care you or a loved one will receive when entering a Rehabilitation program. Very few people have prior experience with rehabilitation or the effects of a spinal cord injury (SCI), thus, assessing the quality of a rehabilitation program is difficult.

Although the final decision will ultimately depend upon individual circumstances such as insurance and location, all rehabilitation programs have features which can be evaluated, regardless of your prior knowledge of rehabilitation or SCI. Continue Reading »

Prevention

A sixteen year old was the front seat passenger with her young, inexperienced boyfriend John at the wheel. They were on their way home from a friend’s party where John had had a few drinks. Just a few streets from home, he lost control of the car coming round a corner and skidded into a power pole. Alice’s head was whipped back and forth, damaging her spinal cord and leaving her a quadriplegic. She copes, but would give anything not to have accepted that lift.

Another Young Man was just twenty years old when he was driving to work one wet, winters day. Continue Reading »

Causes of a Spinal Cord Injury

Together, your spinal cord and your brain make up your Central Nervous System, which controls most of the functions of your body. Your spinal cord runs approximately 15 to 17 inches from the base of your brain to your waist and is composed of long nerve fibers that carry messages to and from your brain. These nerve fibers feed into nerve roots that emerge between your Vertebrae — the 33 bones that surround your spinal cord and make up your backbone. There, the nerve fibers organize into Peripheral nerves that extend to the rest of your body.

A spinal cord injury may stem from a sudden, traumatic blow to your spine that fractures, dislocates, crushes or compresses one or more of your vertebrae. Continue Reading »