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?

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.

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!

19 F ive always struggled to loose weight and now with my sci (T11) i find it impossible. Its really hard for me to diet i just have zero to no self control with food. I want to feel some type of control of my body and mind so i want to hear opinions. i haven’t done much research but i feel like its different for someone with a sci. would it be worth it?

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?

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

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!

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.

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.