Faith, Love, Peace and Joy

Faith: Bigger than yourself. I don’t claim to understand it. I trust in something bigger than myself.
 

Love: if you want to feel that kind of love, you have to give it first. It will change you and everyone around you.

Peace: Like a river… It flows and never stops.

Joy: Love, living, and sacrifice. I thank God for choosing me. It is well with my soul! This life I live.

-Anonymous

Being Kind Is on My Mind

There are many things in life that can be expressed throughout different people, cultures, countries etc. I believe that being kind to one another is one language that can be spoken without using words. Just the gesture of kindness transferred from one person to another is enough to change lives. Also, I think kindness is contagious and so being friendly also helps improve others’ lives.

I try to be as kind as possible to people. There are many throughout my time as a quad that I’ve come across including PCAs, nurses, friends etc. Without their help I wouldn’t be where I am today. That’s one reason why just adding kindness to my life is so important. Another is that I enjoy helping others and sharing my story.

Some benefits from being kind include better relationships. A reason it’s valued in various relationships is that kind people can be more empathetic. Also, there can be fewer negative emotions throughout life. I think the biggest thing is that it can increase health along with peoples’ self-esteem, making the world a better place.

Jenni

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."

-Mark Twain

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.  

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."

-Mother Teresa

Transferring

In order to transfer from my bed to my wheelchair, I use a ceiling lift. It’s a motorized device that lifts and transfers me from point to point alongside an overhead track. Some tracks can be ceiling mounted or freestanding. Mine is screwed into my ceiling and goes all the way to my bathroom. By using a string system, the track can be switched to go from my shower, toilet or bathtub. I mostly use it to take a shower and get in my wheelchair. Here are some pictures of what it looks like:

This is where it charges.

This is where the track changes from one area to another. To the left is my shower, straight ahead is the toilet and to the right is my bathtub.

The lift can also be used to weigh myself. I have a device that hooks from the lift to the bar; when I am in the sling, it shows my weight. In order to get it completely accurate, we need to subtract the weight of the sling and bar. Here is a picture of what the scale looks like:

Jenni

Brody Update

Just wanted to give you a quick update on Brody. He had his last session of physical therapy today and they said that he is doing better than expected. They gave him clearance to do short walks a few times a day along with his exercises. Here’s a video of him during water therapy:

Jenni

My Dog Brody

At the end of a blog post in August I wrote "Over the past couple of weeks my dog Brody was acting different. He wasn’t wanting to eat at times, go outside for walks, and looking a little down. We took him to the vet, but they didn’t find anything physically wrong. They prescribed him with some antibiotics, pain pills, and stronger allergy pills than he was on before. Over the past couple days, I’ve noticed he’s been feeling better. I’m glad that it wasn’t anything serious."

I thought it was just a phase he was going through; not wanting to jump on things like furniture. Although last Sunday morning I noticed that it was much worse; he was not able to walk anywhere with all 4 legs. Basically, he was using his front legs and dragging his back half across the floor, with the inability to pick himself up anywhere. He wouldn’t come over to his dish to eat and was struggling.

We took him into the emergency Vet clinic that day where they examined him. They told us they thought he had a herniated disc in his spine. Not completely sure where it was or how much of the spinal cord it was affecting, the only way to see was with an MRI. In order to get one, she had to take him to the University of Minnesota, which has a separate clinic and the ability to do one on him.

It showed that Brody did indeed have a slipped disc, where it was, and that surgery was the only option for fixing it. It was pinching his spinal cord, paralyzing him and causing loss of feeling. After contemplating about the odds of a 50-50 chance of recovery, we decided on going for it. Not long after, he went into emergency surgery where they removed most of the disc that ruptured.

The surgery wasn’t a "quick fix", which the doctor said was very common. They told us that it could take up to 2 weeks for him to regain feeling and movement. Although just after 6 days of recovery and physical therapy, he started moving his legs, walking a little bit and regained bladder/bowel control! It was a huge sigh of relief and prayers well answered. We picked him up from the University clinic yesterday.

He has strict instructions of limited yard time, walking distances and overall movement for the next 4 to 6 weeks. This is even after he gains strength and ability to move more. I’ve heard people say that dogs tend to look like their owners, but never take on the same disability. I find it ironic that out of all things he ended up with a spinal cord injury, just like me. I’ll keep you updated as he progresses over time.

Jenni

Unleashing my Situation

I love writing, especially if it's about me because it's another way to get things out that may be stuck inside. That’s one of the reasons why I have my blog. It’s kind of like my diary; a way to share my feelings even though it’s public. In high school and college I took creative writing classes and really enjoyed them. I’ve always thought about writing a book about my life. People have told me that I have a story that should be shared with the world. I suppose if I look back at old posts of mine I could compile them and it would create a book in itself.

I also enjoy speaking and sharing my story with others. I like to inspire them no matter what happens in life to stay positive, and believe that everything happens for a reason. I’ve said this to myself many times and it’s helped me get through situations in my life where I felt like things are out of my control. This is also how I’ve been able to overcome so many obstacles throughout my life, the biggest one being my accident. It’s one thing having a situation happen in your life and another to actually be able to overcome it when needed.

Jenni

Common Misconceptions

Everybody's fighting some form of stereotype and people with disabilities are no exception. The difference is that barriers people with disabilities face begin with people's attitudes-attitudes often rooted in misinformation and misunderstandings about what it's like to live with a disability. There are many obstacles that I face having a disability, but one of the most difficult is dealing with the common misconceptions that go along with it.

The first major misconception I think people have is that "everyone" in a wheelchair is unable to communicate. Just because they use a wheelchair to get around, doesn't mean they don't have the ability to hold a conversation or understand what you're saying. I think this is also true for people with more of a physical disability. In my own experience, some people have gone directly to my nurse or someone standing next to me to ask a question directed towards me that I’m able to answer myself.

Another misconception is that I need some sort of fixing or healing. For example, I’ve had people come up to me in public and actually say they will "pray for me" or wish me a speedy recovery. Being that I am used to it, my reaction is probably kinder than others would be. Usually I reply by just saying "thanks" not wanting to further along a conversation. But I’m sure others may take more of an offense to it.

I think that most misconceptions come with a lack of education, understanding or fear. That’s why by showcasing the abilities of people with disabilities, I can help clear some of the misconceptions out there and bring them to light. Those living with disabilities are valuable human beings who want to be part of something greater just like everybody else.

We have the same hopes and dreams along with being part of the community, not separate. I like to get out in public and talk to people in schools and conferences. It’s also one reason why I have my blog. My goal is to educate others about people with disabilities, reminding others to stop assuming anything based on outward appearances.

Despite all the challenges and struggles I've been through I continue to stay positive. I'm very  creative and like to inspire others. The biggest advice I give to other people is not to take things for granted, you never know what can happen.

Jenni

Follow-Up Post

I want to say I appreciate the comments I received from my last post about searching for feedback. It helped me realize that my blog helps more people than I knew. Also, I don’t always have to hear feedback to know people are reading what I have to say. Just the fact that I’m sharing my story, even if it affects only one person, is very satisfying.

This past month has gone by so fast. I’ve still been doing very well as far as my health. Last month I talked about how my right knee is healed although I’m still having left knee pain. The first time I had an MRI on it, there were signs of a torn MCL. After seeing the orthopedic doctor, he wanted me to get some images to see how it was healing. The injury hasn’t healed any more. He also found that I have some muscle atrophy and my kneecap is slipping out of socket. He recommended a different knee brace than I was using, and it’s been helping with pain.  
 
August 11 was my sisters 30^th birthday and August 16 was my niece Avery’s 6-year-old birthday. Avery had a birthday party this past weekend at an interactive indoor play area. The next day we celebrated both of their birthdays together.

Over the past couple of weeks my dog Brody was acting different. He wasn’t wanting to eat at times, go outside for walks, and looking a little down. We took him to the vet, but they didn’t find anything physically wrong. They prescribed him with some antibiotics, pain pills, and stronger allergy pills than he was on before. Over the past couple days, I’ve noticed he’s been feeling better. I’m glad that it wasn’t anything serious.

Jenni

Searching for Feedback

I’ve realized that one reason I created this blog is so that no one would feel alone. So that people would feel like they either had someone to look up to, something to look forward to, a person to help make their life worth living, or just lose their way in the life of someone else just trying to live theirs. Since my accident I had thought of myself as a person with a disability-never the other way around. I always strive to look on the positive side and even on my down days seem to find a glimmer of hope.

Lately, I haven’t written on my blog as frequently as I did when I first started it. Some parts were not really having the time, possibly fighting off illnesses or getting sidetracked with other tasks. Another part is I’m not sure how many other ways I can share my story. From this I get a great sense of satisfaction knowing that I could potentially be helping someone else along the way. I also treat it as a diary, to unleash my deepest thoughts; except it’s not so secret because hundreds of people could be reading it.

Very few know that it takes a lot of time and effort to write one single blog post. In the beginning it wasn’t as hard to write because it was all so new, I had many things to say. Since 2008, when I started my blog, it has been getting harder finding topics to talk about or share. As a result, I end up going a while between postings. Nowadays it takes me a couple of days, a week or even a month to finish. Also, I haven’t had that same feeling of satisfaction after writing a post like I did when I started. I suppose this could be another reason why it’s harder to write and finish a whole post.

I wrote a post in 2013 sharing that I’ve kept a tracker on my blog so that I as well as others could see how many people have read my writings, left comments and maybe have been inspired by what I said. Over the years, I would write a blog post every time I hit a certain milestone of visitors. Knowing the number of people reading my blog, I’ve encouraged all of you to pass my blog onto others. The more people that I can share my story with the better!

As you may tell by now, I’ve been stumped lately with ideas about posts to write about. I want to get ideas flowing and the inspiration back that I had in the beginning. One thing that helps is when people leave comments on my blog about how I impact them in some way or if they have questions when they read my writings. Maybe if I propose questions like, is there anything that I haven’t talked about that you would want to know about me? Is there something that I’ve written about that has helped you in some way?

I’m looking forward to hearing what people have to say by commenting. My goal is to reach as many people as possible.

Jenni

One Knee Down, One to Go

I remember earlier this year that I wrote a post about my knees. Based off a new set of x-rays, my right knee is healing by itself very nice. Although my left knee pain went away, I reinjured it about 3 months ago. Despite all the measurements I took and precautions I’m still having pain in my left knee.

The last time I saw the orthopedic doctor, he gave me the okay to stand. It’s too bad because since I started to stand again, it was helping the fluid in my body to shift. But because of my reinjury I am unable to stand right now. Hopefully I will get back to it soon. The Last thing I want is to reinjure it again. Even though it is good for the rest of my body, I’ll have to stay off my feet for a while.

I’m doing well respiratory wise within the last month since my update. I had another CT scan and found that the abscess still needed to shrink more so they put me back on antibiotics. I’m pleased to say that I’m off my antibiotics and have been using a vest treatment that helps get all the secretions out. I wish I would’ve had it all along since it’s so useful. Hopefully between that and other interventions that come about I’ll stay healthy! I’m going back in a week or so to get a follow-up CT scan just to see if the abscess is gone.

Also, since returning home from my last stay at the hospital, I’ve lost about 10-15 pounds of fluid. I think because I was so sick, it was causing the ability to keep my albumin up. Now that it’s normal, the fluid in my body is slowly shifting and draining easily. I feel much better and hopefully it will continue to drain.

Jenni