¤ i need everyone's help please ¤

[melliska]

hi everybody, the reason for my post is to ask all of you for some help and advice.

last night a 16 year old buy from my small town in iowa was in a car accident and broke his neck. it was a pretty bad accident and one of the other 16 year old guys in the car died.

the first boy broke his neck at c5 and can't feel anything from the chest down and can only shrug his shoulders so far. he was taken to another small-ish town around here because of the accident's location and i'm not sure if he received methylprednisolone. (ever since my accident it is standard to give sci's methylprednisolone here, but i'm not sure how many injuries the other town has seen)

now he's in mason city in critical care (i was transferred there too) and is hopefully being taken care of by my awesome neurosurgeon. i called to speak with his family, but he's not in a regular room yet and i couldn't reach his family because they haven't been in the waiting room when i've called.

my question to all of you is...what in regards to treatment, rehab, clinical trials, etc. should i pass on to his family? my family was pretty lost when i got hurt so i'd like to help his family out if i can. since my injury i've tried to get in touch with everyone else around here that has been hurt, but i haven't been able to talk to anyone's family this soon after injury so i'd like to have all the information i can for them.

thanks everybody, melissa

Life is a lesson you learn when you're through.

[SCI-Nurse]

How is their insurance situation? This will be important factor in what they can obtain as far as care.

They need to get these kids moved ASAP to a major medical center (best if a Level I trauma center) with lots of experience in SCI...preferably one that is associated directly with a SCI rehab center. The rehab center should have a specialized SCI program (not just general rehab) and should be CARF accredited, ideally specifically in SCI rehab. There should be physicians who are physiatrists AND board certified in SCI medicine. Registered nurses should have their CRRN or CRRN-A certification. They should treat a minimum of 30 patients annually with SCI, and have a program that sees a lot of adolescents.

Even if they have to go out of state for this, I can't emphasize how important this is. They should anticipate having to fight even the best insurance companies to get what these boys need. Here is a good FREE resource that they should get right away that will give them guidance with this process:

http://www.josephromanolaw.com/english/book.html

Have them get on-line ASAP. If possible, get them here, but other good resources include these sites:

www.newmobility.com (http://www.newmobility.com)
www.spinalinjury.net (http://www.spinalinjury.net)
www.spinalinjury.org (http://www.spinalinjury.org)
www.pva.org (http://www.pva.org)
www.epva.org (http://www.epva.org)

I am sure others can give you suggestions as well.

(KLD)

[M.Elston]

If this boy is anywhere near Chicago or Philidelphia, or has no insurance to get to one of the centers SCI nurse mentioned, tell his family to get in touch with the Shriners Hospitals. The family or physicians can get in touch with the SCI coordinator at the Chicago center (sara klaas) at (773)385-5517. They even have a transportation network, and provide excellent SCI rehab for people under 18 years of age with no cost to the patient. They took wonderful care of us, and there were several other pediatric SCI's there when my DD was.

M.Elston SCI Mom to 15YO incomplete L2-3

[melliska]

thanks a bunch kld and m.elston. your information is great.

i had the chance to talk to keith's mom today for a lil while and i told her i'd get all the information together for her. i asked her if she could get on the net but she says she's going to be at the hospital with him for the next couple days and probably won't be able to get online soon.

she told me that they want to ship him off to rehab in about a week. i think she's still in shock. she asked me where i went and she said they had already told mentioned that place. i have a feeling they haven't given her too many options though. (especially since they only gave my parents 2 or 3 and not even the one i ended up going to in minneapolis) i hope i can get the info to her sometime this weekend, if not sooner. i don't know if i'll be able to make it there myself though. thanks again, melissa

ps...(can you ps a post...i'm not sure) i found out that he's the lil brother of a buddy of mine i used to work with http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif

Life is a lesson you learn when you're through.