Max
10-23-2003, 04:28 PM
Azle grad copes with disability
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Jeri Field
It's been over a year since the June 18, injury that severely bruised Sean Allen's spinal cord and put him in a wheelchair.
Over the past year, the 2002 Azle High School graduate, with the support of his mom and dad, Linda and Mike, has been diligently working to strengthen his body, which lost from 135 pounds down to 109 after the accident.
Today Allen's weight is stable at around 125 pounds and hours of physical therapy are paying off in improved muscle tone.
According to Linda, he can tolerate being up for a long time now without getting fatigued.
"He can even help me when I lift him," she said. "Instead of being dead weight now, he can push himself toward me."
Keeping muscles strong is a battle for people even if they aren't injured. But for Allen it's especially difficult. It has taken months to just gain back the slightest bit of feeling above his breastbone and in small areas of his arms.
There's still no sensation in his forearm or triceps, but he continues to use wrist weights to work those muscles.
Insurance has stopped paying for therapy and Sean is now on Medicaid, which pays for therapy twice a week. But now his fingers are starting to contract and Linda says he needs range of motion exercises every day.
"It's a constant battle trying to find ways to help," she said.
Although Medicaid has approved a 15-hour a week attendant, Linda said she has gone through Nurses Unlimited and exhausted almost every possibility she knows of.
"It's impossible to find anyone qualified that wants to come for the low pay," she said.
Gaining strength and flexibility is top on Allen's list of priorities. But when not working out he entertains himself with video games, works on the computer and goes out with his friends who are still in town.
Since graduation last May, most of his friends are "getting on with their lives," Sean explained.
"They're joining the military, going to college and whatever." Traffic at the home has slowed down a lot.
Those who are still in town do come by occasionally to visit - and when they do, Mike said, he "throws them the keys to the van and they go to the movies or something."
The "van" is a white Dodge Grand Caravan, purchased for Sean's use by the Joey Wilkins Foundation of Grapevine.
Wilkins herself has been in a wheelchair for years now since a fall severed her spine.
The van has been modified to accommodate Allen's wheelchair with the addition of a remote controlled ramp and the floor has been dropped 10-inches to make room for Allen to wheel his chair inside, turn and fasten it into the passenger's side.
After the serious stuff was done, Allen had it fitted with a custom sound system.
"It has sub-woofers and infinity eight speakers," Mike said.
Allen has made quite a bit of progress over the last year, but between therapy, friends and video games, he's still left with a lot of time to think about his own future, which took a drastic turn last June.
"I don't know anything about the future right now," Allen said. "The doctors and therapists say every spinal cord injury is different."
For the immediate future, he's looking forward to getting prosthetics to open and close the fingers on his right hand and a new outdoor "ATV" of wheelchairs.
"The new chair is a lot wider with front wheel steering, headlights and turn signals," Mike said.
Mike's present goal for his son is to see him open his hands and maneuver a manual wheelchair by himself.
"That would mean he has control of his arms," Mike said.
For the long term, Sean has been giving some thought to starting school.
"I'm looking at getting into computers," he said. "That's something I've always wanted to do."
http://www.clickondetroit.com/health/2577432/detail.html
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Jeri Field
It's been over a year since the June 18, injury that severely bruised Sean Allen's spinal cord and put him in a wheelchair.
Over the past year, the 2002 Azle High School graduate, with the support of his mom and dad, Linda and Mike, has been diligently working to strengthen his body, which lost from 135 pounds down to 109 after the accident.
Today Allen's weight is stable at around 125 pounds and hours of physical therapy are paying off in improved muscle tone.
According to Linda, he can tolerate being up for a long time now without getting fatigued.
"He can even help me when I lift him," she said. "Instead of being dead weight now, he can push himself toward me."
Keeping muscles strong is a battle for people even if they aren't injured. But for Allen it's especially difficult. It has taken months to just gain back the slightest bit of feeling above his breastbone and in small areas of his arms.
There's still no sensation in his forearm or triceps, but he continues to use wrist weights to work those muscles.
Insurance has stopped paying for therapy and Sean is now on Medicaid, which pays for therapy twice a week. But now his fingers are starting to contract and Linda says he needs range of motion exercises every day.
"It's a constant battle trying to find ways to help," she said.
Although Medicaid has approved a 15-hour a week attendant, Linda said she has gone through Nurses Unlimited and exhausted almost every possibility she knows of.
"It's impossible to find anyone qualified that wants to come for the low pay," she said.
Gaining strength and flexibility is top on Allen's list of priorities. But when not working out he entertains himself with video games, works on the computer and goes out with his friends who are still in town.
Since graduation last May, most of his friends are "getting on with their lives," Sean explained.
"They're joining the military, going to college and whatever." Traffic at the home has slowed down a lot.
Those who are still in town do come by occasionally to visit - and when they do, Mike said, he "throws them the keys to the van and they go to the movies or something."
The "van" is a white Dodge Grand Caravan, purchased for Sean's use by the Joey Wilkins Foundation of Grapevine.
Wilkins herself has been in a wheelchair for years now since a fall severed her spine.
The van has been modified to accommodate Allen's wheelchair with the addition of a remote controlled ramp and the floor has been dropped 10-inches to make room for Allen to wheel his chair inside, turn and fasten it into the passenger's side.
After the serious stuff was done, Allen had it fitted with a custom sound system.
"It has sub-woofers and infinity eight speakers," Mike said.
Allen has made quite a bit of progress over the last year, but between therapy, friends and video games, he's still left with a lot of time to think about his own future, which took a drastic turn last June.
"I don't know anything about the future right now," Allen said. "The doctors and therapists say every spinal cord injury is different."
For the immediate future, he's looking forward to getting prosthetics to open and close the fingers on his right hand and a new outdoor "ATV" of wheelchairs.
"The new chair is a lot wider with front wheel steering, headlights and turn signals," Mike said.
Mike's present goal for his son is to see him open his hands and maneuver a manual wheelchair by himself.
"That would mean he has control of his arms," Mike said.
For the long term, Sean has been giving some thought to starting school.
"I'm looking at getting into computers," he said. "That's something I've always wanted to do."
http://www.clickondetroit.com/health/2577432/detail.html