A spinal cord injury alters your life in ways you could never imagine. Everything and everyone in your life becomes derailed, scattered and confused. Life with a SCI presents a whole new set of challenges for you, your family, friends, co-workers and community. Managing your body – what is essentially a different body – is one of those challenges.
In my experience, the most difficult part of rebuilding life post-SCI trauma is learning to manage the barrage of new medical information, clinical complications, physiological education and dramatic psychological and emotional swings.
I found the best thing to do is “control the controllables.” Personal self-care rules the beginning and end of each day for me, along with lots of pit stops in between. There are two different ways that I think about managing my body:
- Managing functions that used to be second nature (like urinating and moving my bowels)
- Managing the spasms and pain my body now experiences
There is much to learn on this journey of self discovery and recovery. I hope the links below help point you in a direction of healing and may you find peace and liberation in the process.
Please feel free to reach out – you can Ask Aaron and/or leave a comment below.
Best in Health,
Aaron
To learn more about managing your body, you can find information in the following links:
- Managing My Neurogenic Bladder
- How I Manage My Neurogenic Bowels
- How to Safely Catheterize in a Public Restroom | Ask Aaron
- Spasticity & Spasms: Part 1 – Insight Into My Spastic Paralysis
- Spasticity & Spasms: Part 2 – How I Manage My Possessed Body
- Spinal Cord Injuries and Urological Issues
- Autonomic Dysreflexia: A Dangerous Secondary Complication of Spinal Cord Injury
- Temperature Roller Coaster: The Ups and Downs of Thermoregulation
- Nerve Pain | Spinal Cord Injury
Shield HealthCare | Stronger with Shield
Why am I always sore after removing my intermittent catheter?
