THE LIFE AND DEATH PILL

[PN]

In 1990 I was going out to dinner because it was my birthday. I was leaving with a friend who also happened to be one of my professors when I was at USC. In August of 1987 he was in an automobile accident in Mexico which resulted in a spinal cord injury to L-1, I think. In July of 1987 I was injured. My injury level was C-2, but we were both incomplete injuries. I asked David as we were leaving when did he believe that there would be a cure for spinal cord injuries? We were both active in raising money for research and David said that there would be a cure in 8 years. I also agreed with him but was sad because it was realistic and 8 years is a long time to wait. I asked David if he could take a pill that would return him to the way he was before his injury but if he took this pill, he would die in three years. David said no, he would not take the pill. I said I would. What would you do?
PN

[Curt Leatherbee]

Three years is not a heck of a long time to live. Now if you told me 20 years, well then I think I would gulp that pill down lol. That is a pretty wild concept to think about tho, "a Cure pill" it boggles the mind.

[Jeff]

No. I couldn't enjoy my life if I knew I would be dead in three years. If I was a high level complete quad I might think differently.

I realized a couple years ago that the loneliness I felt on a daily basis was worse than the effects of my SCI. Or was it simply one of the effects? Not sure. But getting married has changed my life completely. I'm one of the happiest people I know. Plus, I still have the cure to look forward to. Not to mention having children someday and watching them grow.

Some of us don't want to be happy before a cure is found but that makes no sense at all. Be as happy as you can be - it will make the wait that much more tolerable.