Brief Introduction to Spinal Cord Injury part 2

 (Continued)

Hey!! I know I am a little late again but I promise not to delay my posts again and let’s start from where we left in the previous post and complete what we started. I know this topic is a little boring but this is important to understand what SCI is so as to understand the things I was and what all I will talk about.

Ok, out of the 5 topics which I was covering in these posts, 3 of those I had already discussed about the remaining ones are:

1. What are the two main types of paralysis in SCI?
2. What is the recovery time and cure for SCI?

To read about other points click here

So, before we start, we need to first understand what paralysis is. Now, paralysis is the loss of muscle function in any part of the body. It can be either complete or partial, can occur on one side or both sides of the body, can occur in just one small area or could be wide spread.

Now, this happens when something goes wrong in the connection between our brain and the muscles. Most of the paralysis are caused due to strokes or injuries like a spinal cord injury.

Different types of paralysis are shown in the picture below from which can get an idea which type of area is effected in each type. 

Now, I am a complete paraplegic person as my lower body including my legs are totally paralyzed i.e. I have no motor or sensory power in the lower portion of my body.

Now, according to the above said different types of paralysis the two types which occur in a SCI person are:

• Paraplegia
• Quadriplegia

Now, in paraplegia as already explained a person loses the connection between the brain and the muscles of the lower part of his/her body including both of the legs. This happens primarily because he/she hurt the spinal cord at thoracic or lower level.

While in quadriplegia a person loss’s the connection between the brain and the muscles of the body below the neck region. This happens when the person injures his/her neck.

Here, I would like to add it is not necessary that the SCI paralysis is always complete, there can be certain motor or sensory power present in a person’s body. It all depends on how severely the spinal cord is damaged.

Generally, we see more complete paraplegics and incomplete quadriplegics. This is due to the fact that the thickness of our spinal cord is more in the neck area in comparison to the lower region of our body making it stronger in that region.

Now, the second point and I guess the main point which you all want to read about and that is

“What is the recovery time and cure for SCI?”

To answer this question, first we need to understand a little about our nervous system. How it works, what are its regenerative properties. Our nerve cells do not regenerate like other cells of our body. What I mean by this is that whenever we get an injury, the cells which are damaged in that area are replaced by new and healthy cell, which does not happen in the case of nerve cells. Also, in our body the number of nerve cells do not change after we are born. The only change which happen in our nervous system is the length of the cells so that they can reach our whole body while it grows and reaches its full length.

Unfortunately, as such there is no way at present to reverse the effects of a cord injury. But I would like to add that it’s not entirely impossible to say that there is no recovery from this injury as there are many cases where people have seen recovery. If the recovery ours, it generally starts from the first week to six months’ time after the injury, some people also experience small improvements up to two years from the injury. But the fastest rate of recovery is during the first 6 months.

Now, I don’t want to disappoint anyone who is an SCI person and the above-mentioned time period has passed for them, there are certain people who have defied these parameters and till now science cannot fully explain how it has happened. According to these people, where they have reached is because of their will to improve. The biggest example for this I can give is of Patrick ‘pat’ Rummerfield. Now his recovery is to a whole different level, after his accident he was only given 72 hours to live but now he is sometimes referred to as the world’s only fully recovered quadriplegic. From this we can say that nothing is impossible.

Also, there are many researchers who are trying different techniques to improve the regenerative properties of our nerve cells, for which till now they are not very successful. However, there are certain new technologies available in the market which surely can make our life easier. I have listed a few which I think are useful as follows:

1. Modern Wheelchairs
2. Electronic aids for daily living
3. Functional Electrical Stimulation
4. Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
5. Wearable Robots (Exo-Skeleton)

While these are not the cure but they certainly make your life quite easy. Researchers have made a lot of improvements in recent years but still we are not near a complete cure for Spinal Cord Injury. But the researchers are quite positive that they will find a way to cure paralysis completely.

I guess, I have explained about Spinal cord Injury in a very simple and informative way to the best of my abilities. If you still have any queries, please feel free to contact me.

Also please give suggestions on which topics should I cover in the next my blogs.

Till then I would thank you and will talk to you all in my next blog.

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Brief Introduction to Spinal Cord Injury part 1

Hey guys I am back with another blog.

Now after my last post, it got me thinking I want to make this blog informative as well rather then just sharing my experiences only. So then, I thought to myself when I got injured, I knew nothing about Spinal cord injury or SCI as we say is it in short.

So in this blog I would like to give you a brief introduction on this topic, also as this is a very vast topic and if I start going into the details of it the post will become very lengthy and technical which I don’t want this blog to become a very technical and in depth as it just to brief you what SCI is. I would like to cover the following topics:

1. What is a Spinal Cord?
2.  What is Spinal Cord Injury?
3.  Classification in Spinal Cord Injury?
4.  What are two main types of paralysis in SCI?
5.  What is the recovery time and cure for SCI?

I guess it’s a lot to discuss so let’s get started 😊

Well whenever I meet someone new, the main question everybody asks is if you are having problem in your spine or backbone as we say here shouldn’t you be on bed and take rest rather then moving here and there on a wheelchair, stressing you back and what is the problem with your legs, why cannot you move them?

These are a few of the question I get asked by people. Let’s start with a very basic concept and the answer to my first question that is:

1. What is Spinal Cord?

Well spinal cord in general is like an electrical wire which connect your whole of the body with your brain which in turn controls it. It runs from the top of your brain through the Spinal Column or we can say the backbone. So spinal cord is a communication highway between the brain and rest of our body consisting of bundles of nerve cells and fibers as its road.

The Human Spinal Cord can be divided into 4 parts namely:

• Cervical area
• Thoracic area
• Lumber area
• Sacrum area

2. What is a Spinal Cord Injury?

When due to certain injury your spinal cord is damaged rendering certain parts of your body in non-working condition. The Spinal Cord Injury is abbreviated as SCI. It is broadly classified into two types namely:

• Complete Injury
• Incomplete Injury

Now the complete injuries are those injuries in which the spinal cord is fully severed or simply cut into two pieces resulting in loss functions of the region below the injured area.

Incomplete injuries are those injuries in which the spinal cord is partially severed or simply partially cut, allowing the person to retain some of the functions below the injured area. These injuries are becoming increasingly more common than the former due to better personal protective gear used by paramedics, better treatment availability and increased knowledge of how to respond to a suspected SCI in emergency.

3. Classification in SCI:

When a person gets injured with a spinal cord injury, you are given the spinal cord injury level according to the bony fracture or the vertebral level as well as the severity of the injury to the spinal cord underneath indicated as complete or incomplete injury. In addition to this a person may also be given classification according to the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA), as ASIA A, B, C, D or E.

Let’s start with the first type of classification i.e. according to the bony fracture/ vertebral level. According to this type of classification we have 29 levels of Vertebral Injuries, they can be described as follows:

1. 7 levels of Cervical or Neck area
2. 12 levels of Thoracic or Chest area
3. 5 levels of Lumbar or Back area
4. 5 levels of Sacrum or Tail area

The second type of classification would be as already covered in point number 2 Incomplete and Complete injuries. As this was a very broad classification to tell about this injury, this third type came to elaborate more in terms of what is being controlled by the persons brain and what is not.

So, now about this third type. Let’s start by giving a brief history about this classification.

Now, doctors have been using a clinical scale to grade the severity of neurological loss. Before world war 2, it was first devised by Stokes Manville and it was popularized by Frankel in 1970’s. The scoring is divided into 5 groups as follows:

Now the ASIA E segment is interesting because in this a person can have an SCI without having any neurological deficits, well at least not detectable. This type of classification has actually improved the reliability and classification of the injury. As the previous classification could only reflect the severity of the injury only. An incomplete injury can be easily further divided into ASIA A, B, C or D also.

So, if I talk about my injury it can be said as T10 ASIA A -Complete.

(To be continued)

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Thank you

So, finally a year has passed this day, and it has been a day of mixed emotions for me as I don’t know to be sad as what happened or to be happy for the new been granted to me on this day. Today I can either be sad for what I had lost or be happy for everything it has given me. This day to me signifies as I said in my last post how life can change in a split second and we should cherish every moment of it. We should not keep any grudges with anyone as you never know what will happen next. Even if a person who has planned every his/her move has to be prepared to what if something goes sideways.

Now, we are done with that. I think its time to let everyone know how thankful I am to all those who have supported me till now and appreciate them for all there hard work they have put into me, so that I could get back up, accept my status as specially challenged and enjoy my life as I used to do earlier to the best of my strengths.

There are a lot of things that tempt you to get negative and think why your life sucks now, as honestly because many things do suck now. But I rather try to think about certain things so that I stay positive and be thankful about, so of those can be listed as follows:

1. My brain activity has remained unaffected by the accident.
2. My hand functions have been totally unaffected.
3. I can still go outside and enjoy as I used to.
4. I have bad-ass battle scares.

But now I cannot thank enough to god for sparing my life, as anything could have happened. I thank him for letting me live and giving the strength to fight all the negativity that comes towards me. Also giving me a 2^nd chance towards life and making me more reformed in my re-birth.

I would also like to thank all the those who have stayed by my side from day one of my rebirth to this day. There are a few people worth mentioning here without whom this journey wouldn't be possible. As I wrote in my previous blog you all know about my pillars who have been with me in my thick and thin. We all have tried to become strength of each other.

I still remember when my sister first came up to me in the hospital emergency where I was given first aid and asked me what happened? How severe are your injuries?

My answer was “Nothing much just have a fractured collar bone, cracked ribs, broken spine and paralyzed waist down, nothing much” and she was like should I be sad or happy about this!!!

I still cannot forget what happened and how we all dealt with it. It was like we were all supporting each other so that nobody breaks down.

I remember trying to focus to cheer everybody rather then crying in pain as were everyone doing to each other.

I remember father being himself ill but trying to take care of me, and I told him, dad you should go back home and take rest as there were a lot of others here to care for me.

Then there was this girl who was sitting besides me trying to comfort me, but I knew that from inside she was totally shattered, and I was just consoling her that I am fine.

These are just a few of my memories from that day.

But now when I look back to that day on the positive side, I see all those who have supported me to come out of this.

Today I want to thank first to God for blessing me with another chance at life so I could fulfill all the things I dreamt of doing.

My parents for supporting and encouraging me to face life courageously and positively.

My sister, jiju (brother in law) and their family, I cannot thank them enough. They have stayed by my side at every turn. From being the first respondents from my side at the hospital to this day, they have taken care of me as if I am their child.

My niece, well what can I say for this pure soul. Being not even 5 years of age but still understanding what has happened and how she can mend her way so to help me as well enjoy fun with me. She understands my needs and what needs to be done at that moment. I am truly blessed to have her.

The girl who is a perfect example of what life partner means as a lot of people leave you when such a thing happens but not her. She has stayed by my side from the day she came into my life to this day and forever.

My friends who have stayed besides me all the time. I remember at my friend’s wedding, he was also looking after me despite being busy in his marriage function, he tried to keep all his functions accessible, so that I could be part of all his marriage function which really felt very special. Then there is one for whom I don’t know what to say about, he has stayed beside and tried to help me any way possible just like a little brother.

I know I have just listed a few in this post but the list of  people to thank is just to long.  But I cannot thank enough to all as I rarely show emotions that much. I hope everybody gets to know how thankful I am to each and every person known and unknown, close and distant one to me crisscrossing my life for achieving the best in me.

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Life!! How it changes in a split second

Life of a wheelchair user is same as that of any other person with just a few changes in it. I can say this because I am myself on a wheelchair and have just made a few changes in my lifestyle. Basically, I have started to live a little more healthier than I used to do before, just because I need more upper body strength then other people.

As I say this, it has not been that easy of a journey for me also. My actual journey has been a lot difficult with countless visits to the doctors, rehabs and home remedies or as we say in India desi nuske. I had to learn a lot of basic things like sitting straight without support, shifting on wheelchair and other day to day stuff but now I can do everything on my own. No doubt being living in a country where you can get caregiver help at very reasonable price that does not hurt your pocket.

My journey on wheelchair started approximately a year back on the intervening night of 8^th and 9^th of august, 2018. I was coming back home from some work with a few of my colleagues when our car hit a road divider then it over turned flew to the other side and hit another car. As in our country, the emergency response is not well established, I was dragged out my car. Thankfully as the accident took place near my home, by the time I reached the hospital my family was already there.

Being from doctor’s family and as my father started the hospital where I was taken to by the emergency respondents, we knew about the facility. My family shifted me to better hospital nearby. Where I was operated by of the finest doctors of our region. After the operation, I was diagnosed of being paraplegic ASIA A at D9-D10/ T9-T10 level. After my operation I was putted on a ventilator for a day just as a precaution due to the fact that I was having a fracture in my collar bone due to which I was having a little breathing problem.

I was discharged from the hospital a few days later and was on bed for a few months, as here there is very little knowledge about the need of rehabilitation. Like even though I knew about the severity of my injury still I thought that with the help of rehab I would start doing everything like used to do before not with a twist. I still remember when I was talking to one of my friends, they said why are you going to a rehab you are not addicted to something!!!

Fortunately, for me I live in a city which is having very good medical institutions and a very good rehab center specifically for the spinal cord injured persons. When I joined the center, I could not even sit properly and even after wearing brace I needed some support to sit else I would fall back words. It took me around 15 days to 1 month just to be able to sit without the need of having somebodies support to sit.

And now I am have started to take control of my life back. Now I am back to my old self just with a slight twist we can say. I have started going out like I used to. I party, chill with friends, go to work etc.

I would not say that there won’t be days where you will lose hope and get depressed of what has happened. This is the point where you have to pick yourself. I am fortunate to have had very huge support from my family, my sisters in laws, my friends and a very special person.

I have been through a quite few lows but my four main pillars which have gotten me over those would be my parents, my sister, my niece and my special person my better-half.

Everybody says that when a thing like this happens to you the first-person to leave would be your girlfriend but not this girl, she has been by my side from the day one to this day and our love & respect for each other has only grown. Through this I would just like tell you that I love you a lot, I don’t know if I would be able to reciprocate this much back to you or not.

Now what should I say for a person who has been with you from the day you have been born, she is just like my second mom of course the first you all know who it is. Thanks, supporting me and still not giving up on me, also giving me my third pillar. The third one my niece, she is one person who can make me smile anytime. She is the apple of my eye. I am just amazed to see the kind love and understanding she gives to me given she is just 5 years old.

Now what can a person say for his/her parents, I mean how can person love another person so selflessly it’s just amazing.

Now there are few more people who I would like thank would be my brother in law and his family, I mean the kind of support he has given me and my family is just amazing. From being the first respondent from my family till this day he has been there and did everything what an elder brother or parents would do.

I guess for my first time I have written a lot and trust me when I say a lot because for this is also very big thing.

In the end I would just like to say that to reach here the foremost thing required is to stay positive and try to push yourself a little more.

As someone close to me rightly said:

Strength is a choice, Happiness is a choice, Love is a Choice but Life is given to live it but how you live it is a choice. While Happiness is being happy for yourself with the choices you made and being kinder to yourself, trust and respect yourself!!

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Welcome

Welcome to my blog, my name is Akshay Tandon. I hail from Zirakpur, Punjab, India. It is a small town adjacent to India’s first planned city, Chandigarh. I had a spinal cord injury (SCI) in august of 2018 rendering me paralysed from waist down (Paraplegic). This my first time sharing something about my life on the web, specially in writing, which I hate the most so please bear with me in the starting.

Now that’s over, let’s start with the reasons I wanted to start this blog. Well there are a few reasons I wanted to start this blog, the few of those can be listed as:

• Wanted to share my journey.
• Wanted to educate people about SCI.
• Learn from the experiences of other people with SCI.

I will try to be as informative as I can. Also, I wanted to tell that this not end of life but rather a new beginning. In my upcoming posts I will also try to share journeys of a few other people who have SCI.

I would also like to hear from your side about your feelings, thoughts and changes I can make in my writing, so feel free to leave me message or shoot a mail.

Hope gives me courage to see a better tomorrow!! Still I rise - power within me.

May this blog also gives you courage.

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