Another Podcast!

"In Episode 2, we tackle one of the hardest things about being paralyzed - going home after your injury. The shock, the loss of friends, figuring out how to move on, this is what makes us the strong survivors that we are. Tiffiny speaks with four people with quadriplegia who share their story. Listen in as each tells their story."

A couple of weeks ago, Tiffany interviewed me in her podcast for spinalcord.com. She is also a quadriplegic who writes for other blogs along with the New Mobility magazine. She is very social in the disability community and even has her own blog BeautyAbility.com. I did a similar podcast for her blog in 2012 and the link is on one of my previous blog post.

Tiffany asked me questions about my injury and also my life as a quad post accident. The podcast also features interviews with three other quadriplegics all with different stories. My interview is the second one shared. Click on the link below to listen and let me know what you think!

https://www.spinalcord.com/sci-life-uncovered-2

Jenni

Meeting New People

When I first meet people I'm not shy at all. I like to ask questions and answer them as well. One of the things that interests me the most is actually meeting new people and getting to know them. I am a very outgoing person whose not afraid to try new things. Although, when people meet me for the first time sometimes they may be curious, intrigued, amazed or even fearful.

I often explain to them my situation and what happened to make them more comfortable, even if they don't ask. I try to embrace new chances at life. It seems that sometimes people don't know how to act or react to someone like me. This makes me even more want to get out and show others who I am and what I'm capable of doing, despite my disability.

It can be hard to meet new people in my situation. That's one of the reasons why I like doing motivational speaking to children, adults and at events. To show others that despite my disability I have abilities as well. You never know, a simple hello could lead to a million things. I believe there's always a reason why you meet people. Either you need them to change your life or your the one that will change theirs.

Jenni

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
- Gandhi

Getting Stuck in a Confined Area

Have you ever been stranded in a place where you feel a sudden urge to panic? Has there been a time where you’re trapped and you have no way of getting out without the help of others? Well I know I can say yes to both of these questions, and I’ll tell you the story that led me to this answer!

The other day I was at a doctor’s appointment. I took transportation so I had a driver who dropped me off and then one who picked me up. When the one got there to pick me up, my nurse, him and I got into the elevator to go up one floor in order to leave. After hitting the button to go up, the door closed about three fourths of the way and then suddenly… It stopped!

Luckily we were still on the same level, and the door was ajar just enough for someone to fit in and out. The driver got out and went to get help letting them know the situation. After a few minutes a bunch of servicemen came to try to get the door open. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do it by themselves so they had to call the elevator electrical technicians who were at a different location. They had to drive over to fix the problem.

Meanwhile, I was still stuck! By the time they got there I had been in the elevator for 35 minutes already. It took them about 10 minutes to actually get the door open before I could get back out on the same level. Unfortunately, the elevator was broken after that so I wasn’t able to use it. One of the security guards had to take us to the opposite end of the building, which took about 10 minutes, to the only other elevator.

At the time I was a little freaked out, especially not knowing how long I was going to be in the elevator. Although now it's almost laughable and I've been telling the story to just about everyone I see. So much so that I started telling it to one of my nurses and when I got to the part about me getting into the elevator with the nurse, I realized I was actually telling it to the nurse that was with me! She got a good laugh out of that and was going to wait until the end to ask me what nurse I was with!

This is me in the elevator. You can see the door slightly ajar, just enough space for someone to get through!

 

This was the first time in all my years that I’ve been stuck in an elevator. I actually have an elevator in my house. My room is in the basement. The elevator starts in my room and goes up to the main level were my dining room is, then to the 2^nd level into our loft area. I use it to get upstairs in the winter or when it’s raining outside. Otherwise I use one of the other three doors on the basement level to go around up the side of the house to the front driveway.

Jenni