This morning we had a spinal cord injury sneak attack. That’s what I call it anyway, and I’m sure most people with SCI can relate. Just when you think things are going great, and you’re feeling good for a few days (or weeks!), some crazy, unexpected side effect pops up to fuck your morning (or day, or week) all up.
Nick woke me up at 6am by panting and groaning. His stomach was seizing, stabbing pains caused him to writhe uncontrollably back and forth on the bed. Last night he complained that his stomach didn’t feel right, wondering what I put in his salad, but his stomach “doesn’t feel right” a lot of the time so we didn’t think much of it.
This, however, was on a whole different level. This was almost identical to what happened last year when he landed in the hospital for a week because of a small-bowel obstruction. Knowing we were going to end up in the ER if it didn’t clear up soon, I jumped up and ran to his side of the bed and convinced Nick to let me push on his stomach. That was the only thing I knew to do at this point. He had several vomit false alarms, but I kept massaging him. It was painful, and a few times he asked me to hold on, but I kept massaging. If he had an obstruction or blockage, the only thing that would solve it would be to get it moving. So I kept massaging.
Thankfully it moved, whatever it was, before we resorted to a trip to county hospital. The painful episode lasted for two hours, in which time I called Project Walk to cancel his appointment for this afternoon. After a few more hours of sleep, he woke up ready to take on a killer therapy session and called to get his appointment back. He ended up having a CVAC session and then an intense two hour workout at Project Walk.
We even had enough energy for a yummy dinner with Josh Wood and his Mum Kay (check out his website). What an inspiring dude and super nice guy. He spoke openly about his life and bared bits of his soul that reminded me so much of Nick. His determination to always grow and “never say never” really shined, but it’s his acknowledgement of the power of our individual choice to be happy that resonated with me most. After spending two hours with him and Kay, it’s obvious that he can teach others a lot about living an amazing life. It’s no wonder he’s an accomplished public speaker in Australia.
Dinner was arranged by Mum, whom we’ve known for several months now, even though we had never met Josh before. She just knew they would get on amazingly… and she was right.
Nick Fener 