Just got out of hospital t12-L1 spinal cord compression

[lee.thompson84]

after a major ATV bike accident at 23, in Australia lancilin perth, were the bike flipped and landed on me crushing my T12 L1 vertbra causing a SCI, still to this day i still feel like i am dreaming, waiting to wake up in shock, even have dreams where i am still walking, still the reality hasnt kicked in.. My body has changed pretty quick to handle this new SCI. The hardest thing to get used to is knowing how easy it was to walk and ability to do simple task easy... I was lucky in a sense that my injury is so low down. I have sensation threw different patchs of my legs and feet and when try to move muscles in legs can feel a slight twitch in my knees.

Rehab was very challanging as well as OT everyday so tireing. But done now back at home. With few aches and pains. I found that the hospital go overboard with giving you drugs and selfcare. the major thing i recommend is pressure care.
life has been flipped upside down at the moment not knowing where my future is heading. Just feels like i have been given the short straw in life.. but i am willing to push forward in what ever means possible to get my life to return to as close as possible to normal and one day walk again (I wanna ride my Yamaha r1 again)

lee

[SCI-Nurse]

Welcome to CareCure, Lee. As we often say, glad you found us, but sorry you had to.

Please share and ask questions. There are many people here who have been down the road you are only starting.

(KLD)

[PeanutsLucy]

Hang in there Lee. You've come to the right forum. People here are great and can provide you with a wealth of information.

My son was 14 when he broke his spine in four places last year. He is now an L1 paraplegic.

One thing I cannot stress enough is the importance of keeping up with the physical therapy at home. Put together and exercise routine and do it every day. Whatever you can move, move it and move it often. It may be weak now, but you are still a new injury and young. Muscles come back thread by thread and you have to work really hard at getting the most out of whatever kind of recovery you can get. Exercising in the pool is another great option.

If you have any questions, this is the right place.

Take care and stay strong.

[betheny]

Somebody my husband races gokarts with just broke T12 last week. Any pointers you guys have for that level, I could pass on to them. I sent them a link to CC, but when I was newly injured it was too depressing for me to read.

Keep pushing, lee.thompson. Good luck!

[SoFla]

Welcome, lee.thompson. Your injury is still so very new. You can, and will, make many recoveries over the next year or so. Never give up. Keep on working the PT. I am nearly 5 years post SCI, much older than you, and recently gained new feeling in my feet that is giving me more mobility.

Work those muscles that you feel twitching. Massage them. Send signals to them. Never give up!

[lee.thompson84]

Originally Posted by betheny

Somebody my husband races gokarts with just broke T12 last week. Any pointers you guys have for that level, I could pass on to them. I sent them a link to CC, but when I was newly injured it was too depressing for me to read.

Keep pushing, lee.thompson. Good luck!

was told that t12-L1 was the best place to have a break if any is that true??
I have really good sitting balance and do most things with little difficulty cause have use of all abs and little bit of L1.
JUst really lucky to be alive still after the damage i done to my body.
Have no pain anymore with rods or breaks..
Just hope to see what returns, with a compression cord injury can anything return??

[PeanutsLucy]

Can anything return with a compression injury? Absolutely.

It takes time.

I've found that with my son's L1 compression injury things do come back, but what comes back in one leg may/may not come back in the other. It just depends on your injury.

My best advice is keep working hard and work every single muscle you can.

Have you been working on standing? Do you have leg braces? What have you tried so far?

[kevinpatrick]

Hey Lee - I'm t12 too ... you'll most definitely see noticeable return in the next year (maybe a lot, maybe a little). Part of the body healing after the shock of SCI. Work your bod like your life depended on it (it does!) It'll pay off for you!

Let me know if you have any questions - wanna chat. I've kinda been there/done that. lol

[NoDecafPlz]

Originally Posted by lee.thompson84

was told that t12-L1 was the best place to have a break if any is that true??
I have really good sitting balance and do most things with little difficulty cause have use of all abs and little bit of L1.
JUst really lucky to be alive still after the damage i done to my body.
Have no pain anymore with rods or breaks..
Just hope to see what returns, with a compression cord injury can anything return??

I can tell your head is already in the right place. The rest comes with hard work.Don't believe anyone at this point who says anything is permanent, but don't stop living life waiting for anything either. Go to school, work whatever along with standing, stretching, (FES if possible,) will get you where you need to be.

Good luck and welcome!

[funklab]

You'll make it man. We all do. I got my injury in a very similar way T11 compression burst fracture, but I am T6 complete, so the injury was somehow higher.

You will be able to ride your bike again if you want, check youtube and you can find a video on a guy who modified his bike to ride as a paraplegic. I think his was even an R1. You can stick with that till you can walk again!