Being in a wheelchair, you just can’t get away from the inevitable question – “What happened to you?” Out to eat, at school, even in the parking lot, no matter where you are, there will always be someone who will want to know ‘why’ (oh you pesky human curiosity gene). It won’t happen every time you’re out, but it sure happens a lot. How do you feel when it happens? For me, it’s all about context and where I’m at specifically.
I look forward to my shower almost as much as my first cup of coffee, but when I was first paralyzed this was so not the case. I could never warm up afterwards, and it never felt like it used to feel.
But now, just feeling just the hot water on my neck and shoulders is enough to make showering one of my favorite things to do now. I finally saw the light.
How do you use of the shower if you can’t walk? That’s one of the first things kids always ask me. And well, it’s not just a matter of just jumping in the shower now. Things are a bit more complicated. And the answer? By either using a shower chair, a shower bench or maybe taking a bath.
But getting into these contraptions (transfers and the like) is the hard part. Here’s a look at some of the best how to videos what it comes to getting into the shower safely and securely, and some tricks of the trade too. Read this entry
Featured photo via Flickr member miriamwilcox // Creative Commons
A savvy business lady before AND after her injury (at age 45, a tree fell on her while bike riding), here’s how Rosemarie Rossetti Phd has soared post-injury.
She has created the “Universal Living Design Laboratory,” a seriously gorgeous show home in Ohio that uses universal design & green building principals. Read this entry
As part of my blogging for SPINALpedia.com, I get to write about a lot of awesome people with SCI. And Frank Gardner, a paralyzed BBC security correspondent, is one of the coolest.
Learn all about this badass Brit who was shot in Saudi Arabia in 2004, and hasn’t stopped being a high-profile journalist. Read this entry
As a wheelchair-user, you gotta love kids for their innocence and open-mindedness, but let’s face, sometimes it can be awkward explaining EVERYTHING to them lol.
Here are three people with spinal cord injuries seamlessly speaking to kids (including a clip of Christopher Reeve on Sesame Street!). Read this entry
You never think about getting old after you sustain a spinal cord injury, but before you know it, you’re 18 years post (not cool!).
Staying healthy is huge in our world. Watch a great video interviewing 5 people 18 years post; what’s changed and tips galore.
Plus – two more videos, one of shoulder pain prevention, the other on pressure sore prevention (did you know you have to eat 3x the amount of protein when you have one?). Read this entry
In podcast #93, Tiffiny is joined by Sara Tabor, a 30 something woman paralyzed 4 years ago in a bizarre accident, who’s went on to discover a new sport post-injury (where females are still the minority, but are recently gaining numbers) – sled hockey.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Frank Gardner, paralyzed in a terrorist attack while reporting for the BBC in ’04, treks to the mountains of Rwanda to finally see a silver back Gorilla in it’s native environment. Read this entry
Three hysterical comedians with spinal cord injuries:
Chuck Bittner (pictured), a C5 quad from New Hampshire doing some stinging self-deprecating “wicked” humor and Damon Rozier, a para from NYC, doing a “wheelchair lap dance.”
Also watch legendary UK Cockney comic (wc-user from polio), who passed away this spring, Tony Gerrard. Read this entry
Three awesome videos (including a great 9 min one from a sexy European w/ great mirror cleaning tips!) on how to do chores in a wheelchair.
Laundry, ironing, mopping, dusting, these cover it all. Read this entry
(ps. I’m a clean freak too)
