C5 Quad complete. M30. Paralyzed in 2015.

I’m talking to a girl right now who will soon be my girlfriend. She is absolutely gorgeous. Probably cuter than any girl I ever had been with before my accident.

Last year I had a (different) girlfriend for nine months, who was also extremely beautiful inside and out. We met in real life. No dating apps. No social media. She got the real me immediately.

I used to think that there’s no way that I was ever gonna find a partner, and more importantly, one that I was attracted to physically and emotionally. What I’ve learned is this…

For the most part, women don’t care (as much as we do) about physical appearance. They care so much more about if they feel safe. And we (us paralyzed) are in such a prime position to make women feel safe. Safe physically, of course, but also safe emotionally. We have so much more time on our hands to invest emotions into a woman.

All this to say, it’s very realistic to find someone. You just have to make them feel loved and make them feel extremely special and the way that you’ll compete against other men that are more physically superior is through emotional connection.

Hang in there. She’s out there.

Today marks 6 years post injury. I have visited the crash site only once since my motorcycle accident.

I kind of recognize it as just another day, but with a nice dinner. How do you recognize yours?

It’s going to be two years for me since my injury soon and I’m still having issues with my parents and walking. I use crutches for very short periods due to the fact that part of my house is inaccessible, and for getting into my house, so I do use them a few times a day. I wish I didn’t need to, my blood pressure tanks. My heart rate goes up. I’m in a lot of pain even though I do a function and it makes me fatigued and slow and it’s not practica. It also really destroys my shoulders because I have to swing my legs and stuff. I honestly just care about rebuilding my life, I started part time college, looking into adaptive sports ect. my mom is saying that I’m giving up and wants me to do more intense PT and compares me to people like Christopher Reeve that have no chance of recovery and that I have a chance for recovery that I’m giving away. Walking is not practical for me and I’m not saying that with a lot of PT and braces and work I wouldn’t regain more ability to walk more, probably would. But I don’t really feel the need to and honestly, my body does a lot better in my chair. I have conflicting feelings because I know there’s people that would give anything to be in my position and would work like crazy to gain more function like I could. I still go to PT. I just focus more on upper body and stretching and some leg exercises, but not walking. My mom can’t seem to understand that I wouldn’t keep pushing myself if it means in the future I could walk more and I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with anything like this. I also have mixed emotions about regaining more function in my lower body, as that’s honestly the least thing I want to I regain compared to others, and I know that the more function I regain the more my mom will push me and try to get me walking more. I know it comes from a loving place but honestly, it’s just really hard for my mental health. I want her to support me more in learning to drive with hand controls, adaptive sports, going back to school, which I’ve started to do. She’s really happy about all those things but walking something that really matters to her and I guess it just doesn’t to me. Idk it’s just a lot, also I’m 20 and live at home and my mom’s my caregiver so it makes it harder. I’ve made a post about this a few months ago but it was a bit different if anyone has advice pls lmk.

im a c4 quad, was injured when i was 13 and never really adjusted. i can walk but only for about 15 mins before pain kicks in. if i was going to use a chair it would have to be a power chair since my upper body is so weak. i think things are headed that way because i have a bone bruise in my tibia from chronic hyperextension in my knees.

i got a payout that, with gov benefits, lets me live frugally which is easy to do when you dont leave the house much. i live independently and have never had carers but i feel like maybe i shouldve and if i had more support i could live a more normal life. just looking after myself in my apartment and going to PT twice a week feels like it takes up most of my energy. im anxious about going out by myself incase i fall or piss myself. or fall over and then piss myself. (i cant get myself up off the floor unless there is a bench/step nearby)

i really want some kind of reason to get up everyday/some sense of purpose/duty but whenever i think about jobs or volunteering, i feel intense dread that if people depend on me i will fail them. i have bad fatigue and pain and worry that i would be too unreliable.

how do you deal with the guilt of not being a "contributing member of society" / of wasting your life? how do you feel like you are apart of the world when your experience of life is so insular? how do you relate to other people?

i feel intense guilt and shame about how lucky i am, in my warm flat with no boss and all the time in the world. that i can feed myself and enjoy the luxury of blow drying my hair. while simultaneously i feel intense anger and grief over everything i lost. i want so badly to make things with my hands and work hard and help people.

am i just too depressed and anxious to realise that i can do more? what is the balance between accepting what you cant do vs pushing yourself and potentially getting hurt, burning out and letting people down?

i used to want to be an artist or a writer, and i hope one day i will feel passionately about that again, but i can't kick the feeling that all i will be doing is killing time.

anyway, sorry for being so dull and myopic. i got the double combo flu/covid jab yesterday and it's wiped me off my feet

Im a complete T11 from an atv accident back in july this year. Before my accident i had been vaping for about 5 years. Ive stopped for the most part since then but when my friends are around me i take a couple hits of theirs and i’ve noticed my nerves go crazy sometimes, is that a big concern? Because if im being honest I miss vaping so much and ive wanted to continue but im not sure if its a good idea for that reason.

Hey! I’m doing a research project on how people with arthritis or limited hand strength open and hold their makeup. If you have trouble with things like twisting off mascara caps or holding a lipstick steady, I’d really appreciate 15 minutes of your time to hear about your experience! Happy to do a call, video chat or just text, whatever’s easiest for you. Feel free to comment or DM me. Thank you!

i am SO SORRY if this is not the right place, but this community is the people this applies to

i'm in nursing school and work in physical/occupational inpatient rehab as a cna for 4ish years.

i have seen many SCI patients my age, 18-24, and i am very familiar with how patients learn to adapt. it's always heartbreaking watching anyone process something so traumatic, however, i work with a great SCI licensed dr who handles these patients better than imagined. i mean she won't sugar coat, but she is more than confident in people's success, even in a wheelchair.

unrelated to my job, i go to therapy weekly, and the girl before me is in a wheelchair. she has a noticeable amount of muscle mass still, however, she looks very similar to a recent SCI patient. as i sit by the lobby door, i have never gotten up to open the door for her, as she's never struggled. i want more than anything for her to feel autonomy in everyday life and want her to try and try again by herself. however, my bf says he would instinctively help her with the door. thoughts?

I was incredibly lucky to get to try a standing frame yesterday for the first time, I (L4 incomplete) can walk a few steps with a Zimmer frame but am a massive falls risk and can't stand for longer than about 1½ mins before I topple over plus it hurts like all hell to be upright for me and sets off my nerve pain. I think I'd built the standing frame up into some magical pain free infinite standing machine. It hurt even more than the Zimmer because I wasn't putting any of my weight through my arms, I only managed 5 mins in the frame before I had to tap out (they were aiming for 30) and I'm still in pain today from it. I don't really know what to do. The pain was unbearable, I don't want to do it again, especially if it's gonna leave me in pain for days after but this has been treated as the next step in my rehab and I waited months just to get to try one. I feel like I've had a bit of a smack back to reality that actually the standing frame isn't some magical fix everything machine but ouch it hurts, physically and mentally

Hi all, I was in a car accident 5 years ago and Ibroke ny neck! I am here to find meaningful connections and friends to talk about our daily struggles! Dm is open!

Hi guys, I’m L1 complete and had spinal fusion surgery (T11-L3) due to a gym injury which led to a burst T12 and crushed L1.

In two weeks I’ll be having surgery as my operation wound suddenly opened again (about a month post-op) and would not close. It showed hypergranulation but lately also possible signs of an infection. Nevertheless, they need to go in, maybe only clean superficially but probably go deeper where the screws are and possibly remove a bit of the vertebrae which has been crushed in my initial injury (almost three months ago). I will be getting iv general antibiotics and if they find anything, I will be getting specific.

Does anyone have any experience, advice, etc.? I’m not happy about having to receive antibiotics (yes I know about sepsis) so even tips on how to mitigate the adverse effects and go about it. I eat a lot of fibre and take L. reuteri. Also, I don’t know what to expect of the recovery. Now, I can walk with a rollator, but would I need a wheelchair? How can I prep my home/myself?

I’ve been trying to get my bowel program down independently. I figure as long as I can reach underneath, it’ll just be a matter of practice.
I currently have a standard drop arm padded commode and switched the seat to side opening so I could reach my hand underneath. I’m an average sized dude but sitting down my thighs take up the whole seat and there’s really no room to fit my hand through the side opening. My legs haven’t atrophied much due to a shitload of spasticity and tone.
I was wondering what kind of commode chairs y’all are using to be able to do it independently? Especially interested in hearing from the quads out there doing it independently.

Hello-

I’m a new member to this group- the aunt of a 10 year old girl that suffered a SCI in a car accident in late June of this year.

AMENDMENT: Her status is T-11, ASIA B

She’s recently completed inpatient rehab through Children’s Hospital of Atlanta and is midway through the outpatient program. She was measured for a Numotion chair about a month ago at CHOA and is in her second loaner chair that isn’t working well for her needs either. We’re working with local connections and possibly FODAC again to attempt to get yet another loaner chair as we’re learning quickly that Numotion (who provided the initial and completely not usable loaner chair) is pretty much non responsive to requests for assistance and the hospital effectively waives all responsibility for chair/equipment to Numotion as the “medical supply vendor.”

As I’m sure everyone here has experienced, this is a steep learning curve for both my niece, her parents and our extended family but we are going to make sure she has absolutely everything she needs to be safe, pain free and able to participate in life the way she wants to. She’s a taller, very athletic 10 year old that was very active in competitive cheer, school activities, playing outdoors (her home has an inground pool and hot tub) and social relationships pre accident and wants to charge back into that life, chair or not.

If anyone has the time to provide advice or recommendations to any of the following questions, we would be so grateful.

1. If money/insurance were no object what wheelchair recommendations would you make? Brands to avoid? Best power assist options? Wheels with suspension versus standard? Ideally she’d like to be able to navigate the playground and football field for cheer, go up and down basic inclines without injury or severe fatigue, transfer into a standard small SUV rear seat and get through normal doorways at her school and friends homes.

2.Any general recommendations or recommendations in the metro Atlanta/north Georgia region for continued PT, home training or home equipment for strengthening/rehab? Anything to avoid?

Thanks in advance! Seeing the world from this plane of navigation has made me realize how incredibly unaware I’ve been my entire life of how inaccessible, taxing and frustrating theoretically “accessible” accommodations everywhere really are.

Por que recomiendan sillas de rueda manual y no eléctrica?
Que beneficios da?
Soy T7 Asia B. Femenina.
Tengo dos niños, de 6 años y 6 meses.

I’m really nervous. I got my cervical spine MRI results. Anybody have results like this? If so, how do you feel? What was the treatment? Trying not to freak out but, I am.

Basically the title. I want to know how common it is these days for people in our situation to get with caregivers, I’ve personally got with nurses and quite a few of my carers over the 3 years I’ve been injured and a lot of the senior nurses in the rehab were actually married to their ex patients.

I guess I’d like to know of experiences where this has led to a proper relationship or long term thing and how that has been?

I could’ve got in multiple relationships but I just don’t feel like I can provide the right things it wouldn’t be fair for either of us and I’ve always just instantly shut any “progression” down but I’d love to have an actual healthy functioning relationship I just don’t get how it would even work. I need some encouragement I think

♿💪 COME WORK OUT WITH ME! 🔥

Who says you need to be able to walk to get a good workout in?! 💪❤️

I'm a T4–T8 complete spinal cord injury survivor, paralyzed from the chest down, and I refuse to let that stop me from staying active!

Today I'm taking you along for some of my adaptive workout exercises! 🏋️‍♀️

🔥 Today's workout includes:

💪 SkiErg — getting those arms, shoulders, and upper body working!

🏀 Medicine-ball exercises — building upper-body strength and endurance!

♿ Everything is done from my power wheelchair, showing how traditional gym exercises can be adapted for different abilities.

Some days are harder than others, but every workout is progress! ❤️

I'm sharing my fitness journey to show that adaptive fitness is still fitness! 💯

💬 I'd love to hear from you!

Does anyone else here use a wheelchair or do adaptive workouts?

What's your favourite upper-body exercise?

I'm always looking for new workout ideas and ways to challenge myself! 💪🔥

#AdaptiveFitness #WheelchairFitness #SpinalCordInjury #DisabledAndStrong #ComeWorkoutWithMe

Hi everyone!

I'm a Graphic & Game Design student at Istituto Pantheon in Rome, Italy, currently working on my bachelor's thesis about accessibility in video games.

I'm developing a Unity accessibility toolkit to help indie developers make third-person games more accessible, particularly by exploring ways to play using a single analog stick.

I've created a short survey to better understand the challenges people with motor disabilities experience when gaming, especially regarding controls, movement, and interactions.

Privacy and research information:

• Responses will be used for my academic thesis and to guide the development of the toolkit.
• The survey can be completed anonymously. Email addresses are not collected automatically.
• At the end, participants can optionally provide an email address to receive project updates or express interest in future interviews or beta testing.
• Only I have access to the email addresses, and they will only be used for the purposes selected by participants.
• My contact information is included in the survey, and participants can request the deletion of their email address at any time.

Survey link: https://forms.gle/VJqaW2cLAAJWSXr48

Your experiences and feedback would be incredibly valuable, even if you feel this approach wouldn't be useful for you.

Thank you so much for your time and for helping make gaming more accessible! ❤️

This is for anyone who needs it. I’ve got an entire unopened box.(three month supply.) of vapro catheters. I’m lucky enough to have regain control over my bladder and insurance sent me another box. I’m struggling finding somewhere too donate them.

Hello,

I'm a 38 yr old female and I had surgery for Cauda Equina Syndrome in March. I've been in severe pain since but that's not my main complaint. I've read through other post and everyone says the pain will get better so I'm not overly concerned about that. Comes with the surgery. Photo of my bulging disc attached.

I am concerned about the numbness. Part of my right leg and my groin area is completely numb. There is no sensation in my groin and I feel like I'm losing my mind. A very important part of my body is dead and honestly it feel like a strangers body has been fused to mine.

Sexual intimacy is gone. My boyfriend and I have tried everything but nothing feels. I have a pelvic floor therapist that I see weekly and my first appointment with a Urologist this week.

Have any other women experienced this and what did you do? What options are there because it's really hurting my mental health. There has to be something to get sensation back.

I’m a student nurse currently on rotation at an ortho/spinal unit, my boyfriend has also coincidentally recently had a spinal cord injury and is pretty much completely paralysed. I’m just trying to understand contusions a bit better, if there’s any chance of healing etc, as google and the medical resources are often vague, and I’d like to understand how contusions affect people as I see so many different presentations

Hi everyone,

I'm a 19-year-old guy from a small village in Uttar Pradesh, India. In March 2024, an accident caused a C6 spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed below my neck, including my fingers.

Since then, my life has completely changed. I depend on others for almost everything. After months of medical complications and rehabilitation, my condition has been relatively stable, but I'm still struggling mentally with uncertainty about my future.

I'm worried about my career and financial independence. Working outside isn't a realistic option for me right now, so I'm looking for ways to learn a skill and earn money online using my phone.

Sometimes, I feel lost because I don't know where to start or which direction to take. I want to do something meaningful with my life instead of constantly worrying about my future. Even a small income would be a big step toward becoming more independent.

If you're living with a spinal cord injury or a disability and have managed to build a career or earn money from home, I'd really appreciate your advice.

What skills should I learn? How did you get your first job or client? Are there realistic opportunities for someone in my situation in India?

I don't expect success overnight. I just need some direction and a starting point. Hearing from someone who has faced similar challenges and found a way forward would give me hope.

Thank you for reading. Any genuine advice or personal experience would mean a lot to me.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻