Brave Then ... Braves Now

Ok so this post is out of order of sequence of events... but this is a fun post and a new tradition. 

As many of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter know that Shane and I went to Atlanta and Chattanooga this weekend.   Friday was exactly one year since I was released from The Shepherd Center Inpatient Rehab.  I celebrated this anniversary by a visit to the Shepherd Center.   This was awesome I got to see a lot of the people who took extra special care of me: Darvin, Paul, Jo, Megan, Katie, Dyan, Sheila, and even the happiest custodian I've ever met who's name is also Jo. 

Everyone recognized me right away and were blown away by how much I have improved.  They also couldn't believe that it had been a year.

Two days before I got out of inpatient, so August 14, I had the privilege to go on an outing to a Braves game.  For those of you that do not know I am a DIE-HARD Atlanta Braves Fan!  This was right up my alley!  So I thought It was only right that I also commemorate this as well with a Braves game.  Who am I kidding I NEVER need an excuse to go to a Braves game, especially if I'm in Atlanta.

We had a great time but got a little wet at the beginning but who cares I was I was at Turner Field!  Even better the Braves beat their new rival the Washington Nationals!

Shepherd Center Part 2

While at the Shepherd Center I was on a ventilator.  The lung specialist told Shane, Mama, and Diddy that I would never come off the vent.  Of course they didn't tell me this.   Mama said she looked at the doctor and said "You must not know my God. He's the Great Healer."  With a vent comes a lot of extras.  Your body secretes a thick mucus in your lungs which was called secretions.  Several times a day they had to go in and suction out the secretions with a mini vacuum type pump so they wouldnt settle in my lungs and cause me to quit breathing.   This was a lot on me with the vent and trach.  It caused me to have severe panic attacks.   This scared everyone because I had never had panic attacks before.   Well the longer I was on the vent the stronger my lungs became.  After about a month I started being weaned off the vent I started with 30 minutes a day and worked myself up to 20 hours.  I'll have to thank my Diddy & Mama for pushing me and not letting me give up!  After 3 1/2 months I found myself in an overnight stay in the ICU for my first full night without the vent. (ICU was for precautionary measures and observation).  I remember the day I posted on my Facebook page that I was vent free.  I think I had over 100 likes and comments.  My parents then told me what the lung specialist said.  My response was "My God is bigger than medicine."

Not only did I have a trach and vent, I had a halo, feeding tube, a catheter,  and a knee immobilizer.   With God, prayer, hard work, and prodding and encouragement from my family.  I was able to shed each of these assistance devices.

The diagram below shows the possible levels of spinal cord injuries.   My level was C1 which is not on the chart because 99% of the time that is a fatal injury.   I'm happy to say I'm the 1%!  If you look I also overcame the C2-C5 effects of spinal cord injury.