Have you ever seen the movie paying it forward?
On Saturday, July 1, I took a step in doing that.
First let’s back up. Six months post injury, I met Marcus at Mary Free Bed. He also is a quadriplegic five years post injury. He visited me a few times at MFB and introduced me to a few other people with SCI.
He has been encouraging and a good resource for me. I could call him at any time to talk or if I had questions.
A few months ago, I met a new SCI outpatient guy name Joe. He is in his late 20s and pretty quiet. He suffered a work injury and is covered under workers comp.
I offered to stop by his place on a recent Saturday and he accepted. He lives in a independent nursing home.
“Dude,” I told him. “You’re the only resident under the age of 70.”
He laughed and agreed about that.
We covered the following items during my 90 minute visit.
- Pressure sores: this is the one issue I hammered home. His home health staff don’t necessarily check for these. I encouraged Joe to direct caregivers in doing skin checks while changing him.
- Self advocacy: Joe is a very laid-back guy. We discussed directing his care while advocating for himself.
- UTIs
- Emotional health
- Explore with his Rec Therapist of activities to do and develop new hobbies
- Structuring days: finding meaningful activities helps ward off depression and boredom
He gave me a little tour of his facility. They had a nice snack shop, library, and TV room.
Then my ride home arrived. I encouraged him to call me if he had any questions or just wanted to talk.
Does anyone have examples of paying forward? Please share your examples either in the comment section or email me directly.
Thanks for reading!
Leave a Reply