The Story

This is a blog designed to keep my family and friends up to date with my recovery in therapy and life. For those that don't know, I was is a terrible snowboarding accident on March 4, 2010. I was traveling down a trail with my brother-in-law Casey. We were going fast, but weren't out of control. Due to the time of the day, there was what they call " a white out effect", that's when a person has a hard time noticing some elevation changes in the snow. Unfortunately for me, when I reached the point in the trail where it merged with another trail, there was a bad drop off. By the time I realized this it was too late. I sailed off of the drop and was about 15-20ft. in the air before I landed on my tailbone in the hard packed snow. My legs instantly went numb and I was having a very hard time breathing. Casey rushed to me and all I could say was " I just paralyzed myself, go get help!". I was air lifted to Loma Linda Hospital and after hours of test they found that I had shattered my T12 vertebrate. I was put into surgery for 4 hours and received a titanium cage, rods, screws and other materials to rebuild my spine. During the injury my spinal cord was compressed and the broken pieces from the vertebrate actually punctured my spinal cord. After a few days in the ICU, I started to get feeling on the top of my thighs, knees and front of my shins. This was amazing because initially the doctors didn't expect me to regain much, if any , feeling or movement in my legs. I spent 8 days recovering in the ICU before I was transferred to Long Beach Memorial Rehab Center. I spent 2 weeks recovering there, as well as receiving great therapy. I progressed so well that I was actually discharged a week early. Next, I researched outpatient therapy centers and found Precision Rehabilitation in Long Beach. Lucky for me their gym is close and has some of the most qualified therapist in the country. That's the story and the rest will be posted here for you all to enjoy.

As you all can imagine, this has been a terrorizing experience. If it wasn't for the strong support of my family and friends, I know without a doubt, I wouldn't be able to get through this. I strongly look forward to getting back on my feet, so that I can enjoy everyday with my beautiful wife and wonderful boys.


Monday, September 27, 2010

September 27

       Well today was a very exciting day for me. I woke up to a phone call from my wheelchair vendor and he informed me that my chair arrived. He said that they had to run it through their quality assurance department and we scheduled an appointment for him to deliver it to my house on Thursday. So, I had therapy today, which went well, and as I was leaving the vendor showed up to do a wheelchair evaluation for another patient; however, to my surprise, they brought my chair in the hope that I would be there. You wouldn't believe how excited and surprised I was. The chair looks exactly as I had hoped it would. I'm very happy with how it turned out and it's very comfortable for me to sit in. It's 3" narrower than the other chair, so it makes life a lot easier while maneuvering around the house. I love this chair, but I'm still looking forward to not having to use it in the future. I'm pushing myself to use my forearm crutches as much as possible. In fact, when I go to therapy on Wednesdays, I don't even take my chair with me. I would say that I'm almost at an even 50/50 of using the chair and using the crutches. Last Tuesday I met with the doctor and my therapist. They did some progress testing and the test showed that 5 different muscle groups have improved. I haven't had any movement in my feet yet, but recently I have been getting some new feelings in them. Lately they have been feeling as if they are sunburnt, which I guess is a stage in the nerve healing process. It might not sound fun, but anything new to me is great. Well I hope all is well and here are some photos ot the new chair, cheers!

                    
 



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3 comments:

  1. SueSeptember 28, 2010 at 3:24 PM

    HI Josh, I am so excited you are so excited!!! about your new chair.. looks very cool, watch out for those wheelies..It makes my heart so glad to hear how well you are doing.. keep up your great spirit and wonderful progress..
    Love,
    Aunt Sue

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2010 at 4:03 PM

    Hi Josh, so glad you finally got your new chair.. congrats on your recent progress!
    no tricks now haha! You are our hero...
    Hugs,GG grandma

    ReplyDelete
  3. DorianOctober 10, 2010 at 11:08 AM

    Hi Josh,

    I saw this today and thought of you:
    http://www.switched.com/2010/10/08/bionic-legs-will-help-paraplegics-walk-without-human-help-by-201/?icid=main|main|dl7|sec3_lnk2|176224

    "I don't have to be hopeful. This is reality."

    One day at a time.

    Tami's friend,

    Dorian

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