Shitty realization...
When I turn 31 on the 13th (Tuesday) I'll have officially passed the point of having spent more than half my life in chair.
I remember talking to a guy named Andre in rehab who was 36 and had had his accident at 18. I remember thinking "fuck that's a long time to have been in a chair... I can't see myself at that point." And now I'm here...
I really thought I'd be walking by now.
RJC...
I just PMed you...
I don't know how that would feel. We have'nt gotten to that mark yet. We are coming up on being together more years in a chair than years we ran around together and it feels kind of wierd. I can't remember some things we did without Cisco in a chair. I'm not sad about it, just can't remember. Keep your chin up!
I know exactly what you mean. When I turned my 20th year in the chair (coming up on 22 this summer), I was just in shock. The 12yr old never believed I would still be sitting twenty years later, still ... it consumed my thoughts that whole summer. It's like reality settting in and all of sudden like going through the initial shock of being paralyzed all over again.
BUT
It made me want to shout out to anyone that would listen, even more, that living this way for so long is unacceptable! It made me want to write more letters, support research more, etc.
Roses are red. Tacos are enjoyable. Don't blame immigrants, because you're unemployable.
T-11 Flaccid Paraplegic due to TM July 1985 @ age 12
Yep I am fast approaching my half point also. I was twenty and in another year or two I will be turning 40....Bad enough I have to turn forty but having spent half my life like this throws gas on the fire. I was thinking the other day, my daughter has never known me any other way. At least my family and friends got to see me play ball and roller skate but my daughter never got to actually do physical things with me. She actually saw me get in the lake for the first time last summer. I never could find a good water shoe to protect me feet and regular tennis shoes usually sank me. I was also scared (my own fear) to injure my feet as I had already had a 24 hour foot surgery. Being too protective has limited my life somewhat.....Originally Posted by RJC
When I turn 31 on the 13th (Tuesday) I'll have officially passed the point of having spent more than half my life in chair.
I remember talking to a guy named Andre in rehab who was 36 and had had his accident at 18. I remember thinking "fuck that's a long time to have been in a chair... I can't see myself at that point." And now I'm here...
I really thought I'd be walking by now.
I already walk (if you call it that, it is more like the penguin shuffle). I had hoped I would be pain free again or at least semi pain free enough to walk as much as I desire or even to stand more than 10 minutes at a time.
T12-L2; Burst fracture L1: Incomplete walking with AFO's and cane since 1989
My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. ~Author Unknown
How about sixty-three since the end of last month and having been in a w/c for 44 years.When I turn 31 on the 13th (Tuesday) I'll have officially passed the point of having spent more than half my life in chair.
I remember talking to a guy named Andre in rehab who was 36 and had had his accident at 18. I remember thinking "fuck that's a long time to have been in a chair... I can't see myself at that point." And now I'm here...
I really thought I'd be walking by now.Quite some time before this point, you start wanting more of the years to accumulate, provided you can remain autonomous.
I was gimped way back before there was any realistic hope of a cure and never believed I'd see one. I didn't expect to live this long and healthy, either, as in '62' the average life expectancy for a para was twelve years.
But I hope you don't wind up following in my wheeltracks.
"The world will not perish for want of wonders but for want of wonder."
J.B.S.Haldane
welcome to reality. it's not like you didn't see it coming. we're not the first and won't be the last to cross this barrier. i think it's more of the brain blocking out what life was like before you got hurt b/c it makes it harder to live disabled with an AB mind.
like getting institutionalized.
i think that is/will be a hard year for all of us. Mine will also happen the year I turn 40 - if i'm still paralyzed (15 years from now...) I think it will be a good reason for an awesome, expensive, crazy vacation - like an around the world cruise or something.
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