Spinal Cord Injury Information

I sincerely hope the information presented will be useful and help you and yours cope with this devastating injury.

If you do not find a subject shown here, please let me know and I will certainly try to research the information and present it on this website in continuing updates.

SCI INFORMATION, Changes

This important section is devoted to the changes that take place in the SCI body, and includes important information on the circulatory system, the respiratory system, the psychology and psychosocial adjustment of the SCI, even sexuality, sex after SCI.

Coping With SCI

  As you have realized by now, spinal cord injuries are serious injuries. While working toward recovery, the SCI will need all the help they can get from family, friends, and health care providers.

  The family member is the key link to the injured person, and it is important that the family members focus their energy on taking care of themselves so that you can help the injured person as much as possible.

  Spinal cord injury can produce different levels and types of stress in the people close to the injured person. The presence of stress is normal. What is not normal is to expect that the family members should be able to eliminate this stress, when in fact the family members need to think and find ways to minimize the strain and its effect on the family members.

  Worry is a natural response when someone close to you has been injured. One of the things that might be helpful to the family or individual family members is to make a list of all of the things that cause you worry. Once the list is completed, review the list to see if any of the items can be dealt with immediately. Focus your attention on the following three items:

• Things you are unable to control, eliminate, reduce or change.

• Things which are possible for you to change and how you might be able to change them.

• Things for which you can get information to help reduce this worry, and who might provide that information.

  It is important to recognize that the health care providers, doctors and nurses all may be able to provide the information you request to help reduce your stress and worry. The best way is to identify one of the above with whom you have found it easy to talk with. Prepare a list of questions and discuss it with that individual. Also provide any information to the above about the injured that you feel may be relevant to his care and well being.

  There are several specific changes that affect your circulation after SCI. After a quick look at the basics, we will describe these changes to help you recognize if there may be a problem.

  Identify ways that friends, neighbors, and other family members might help reduce some of the stress that is the source of your worry. In general most people want to help but do not have a clear idea of what specific things might be required. Identify a specific task that others might perform that will helpful to you.

  Almost all family members in acute care situations experience a great amount of fatigue. Plenty of rest, the right food, and some form of exercise will go a long way in easing that fatigue. Set some type of rotation system with other family members to facilitate being able to "unwind and relax" with the knowledge that you are not needed at the injured's side but can be reached if necessary.

  Many injuries take place away from home which means that you are maintaining a bedside vigil in a strange city hospital away from your home. This in and of itself is a very lonely experience. If you are experiencing loneliness, the following may be of some assistance in overcoming this loneliness.

• Ask family and friends to visit you in the hospital at specific times.

• Make an attempt to become acquainted with other patients, families and their visitors.

  It is very important for the family member to recognize that it is easy to feel overwhelmed or unduly stressed, and others that might be able to offer assistance could include the patient's doctor, hospital social worker, nursing staff, hospital clergy, even your own physician. Guidance should be sought before it gets out of control. Some of the early warning signs of stress and overload are:

• Inability to sleep.

• Nightmares.

• Blaming yourself constantly.

• Excessive use of alcohol or drugs.

• A sense of nothing being worthwhile.

• Not understanding anything that you have been told about your loved one's condition.

  If you are experiencing any or all of these warning signs, or other things which concern you, obtain professional support and guidance for yourself. It is very important for you to maintain an ability to cope.

  The response of " I don't know" may be factual at the time it is voiced but it is most important that your questions be answered. In the very best situations family members and the injured's "health care team" should be open with each other and work together toward better communications from the outset and a common goal. They are many times when frustration will set in because no one seems to be able to answer your questions. Provide written questions will be helpful but ASK YOUR QUESTIONS UNTIL THEY ARE ANSWERED.

  Remember, you will often be under stress and apt to be forgetful and therefore you must listen carefully. Some of the information you may not be prepared for, you want to believe it but can't. This is called denial, or denying that anything is wrong. Denial is quite normal.

  Early in the acute care stage, the injured will be referred to a rehabilitation team. The rehabilitation nurse specialist and possibly a physiatrist will talk to family members about the rehabilitation process. You can get specific information about therapy activities in the rehabilitation center from the therapist working with the injured in the acute care hospital setting. Arrangements can be made to visit the rehabilitation facility recommended or others that you might be considering to assist in the information gathering process. In most situations the physicians and nurses taking care of the patient will provide you with honest information when it is requested.