Hi Guys … I’m headed down to Miami for the next three weeks with my fabulous husband. I’ll be taking a vacation from the Quirky Quad until I return in the beginning of November.
Follow along on Facebook for some great memories, adventures, and pictures to come!
I’m really excited to have worked with the New Mobility Magazine Team over the last month to publish my first article with them …
Read on to see what kind of adventures and challenges I faced in China:
http://www.newmobility.com/2019/10/to-china-and-back-for-syrinx-surgery/
The obstacles many of us face with disabilities on a daily basis are challenging enough without having to constantly fight the uphill battle for basic medical supplies we need with insurance companies, durable medical suppliers, and the labyrinth of government assistance. Many of us strive to create and live our lives to the fullest, but we are, oftentimes, faced with one roadblock after another. The sheer determination and will of living with a disability is commendable enough, but there are so many people with disabilities who take that extra step to break the barriers within the business community in order to help their fellow disabled live a more independent life.
Read on Push living Magazine: https://pushliving.com/disabled-entrepreneurs-the-power-of-change/
Writing is a therapeutic activity for me as it helps calm my mind, reduces my pain levels, and allows me to try and help others from afar. Over the last two weeks I repeatedly opened a new word document to write my next article only to find myself closing the program down after a few sentences. This process repeated over and over again, and I chalked it up to writers block.
The other day as I was sitting on my computer thinking more critically about why I could not put words on paper as I kept fidgeting in every direction in my wheelchair unable to find a comfortable position. I started to notice the pain in my neck has slowly been increasing over the last several weeks for no immediately obvious reason. I had not changed anything in my routine, my diet, my exercise program, etc., but the piercing feeling of knives running down the scar on the back of my neck from one of my surgeries continued to persist. This new pain has prevented me from maintaining my laser focus as I am usually accustomed to.
This prompted me to think about chronic pain more critically. I scrolled back through many of my articles over the last several years and realized I have never taken the time to describe what chronic pain means to me and likely for the millions who suffer from it too.
Pain stems from inflammation in the body because inflammation is part of the immune system’s response to danger. It’s a hugely complicated process to prepare our body to fight off hostile forces. There are two main types of pain in our body – Acute Pain and Chronic Pain.
Acute pain usually comes on suddenly and is caused by something specific. Acute pain does not last longer than six months and goes away when there’s no longer an underlying cause for the pain such as surgery, broken bones, dental work, burns or cuts, etc.
Chronic pain is ongoing and usually last longer than six months. This type of pain can continue even after the injury or illness that caused it has healed or gone away. Pain signals remain active in the nervous system for weeks, months, or years. Chronic pain can include headaches, nerve pain, cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc.
A majority of folks who sustain a spinal cord injury suffer from extreme chronic pain in many forms after their accident. Before I broke my neck I would look at somebody in a wheelchair and wonder what they felt? … I thought they couldn’t feel their legs or their stomach, etc. I was epically wrong! Continue reading
One of the first things we tend do in the morning is head to the computer to check emails, read the news, browse social media, etc. Many of these tasks are automatic, as we push the power button on our computer, move our mouse to the right icon to open the internet, and use the dexterity in our fingers to type the keys so seamlessly. Fortunately, touchscreen technology has made these things much more convenient. However, while some people are able to do everything on their touchscreen, some need complex software to be able to go about their daily lives at work.
A challenge faced by many who are quadriplegic and don’t have the use of our hands or arms, is how to automate many of these processes to make technology less intimidating, since many of us depend on “devices” in this day and age.
I need the full computing power of a laptop every day to work as a day trader, editor, writer, and to interact with the world, as I am home most of the time throughout the week. While I have a caregiver to help with my physical needs, the one area of privacy I need in my life is when I enter the digital world. I want to be as independent as possible.
Over the years, I’ve experimented with different adaptive technology equipment and software. I’ve gathered input from many of my fellow spinal cord injury friends on what they use to interact in the digital world. For many whose jobs don’t require constant use of a laptop or desktop, a tablet is sufficient for them, and they can use their paralyzed fingers to do all of their typing. However, my needs are different and I’ve put together a list of adapted technologies with videos and links to show you how I work around some of the physical challenges I face.
Read the rest on Push Living Magazine: https://pushliving.com/adaptive-technology-life-hacks/
“Inspiration Porn” is a term I have been reading about lately in many articles across different forums. At first I was confused as to what was behind the meaning, but from my understanding, it’s when people who don’t know you see you in a wheelchair, approach you, and tell you what an inspiration you are. Mind you they don’t have any back story on who you may be except that they see a person in a wheelchair or with a disability. They then proceed to tell you what an inspiration you and I assume it is meant for simply being in a wheelchair.
There appears to be much controversy over this as many folks, whom I have spoken with, are not necessarily offended, but frustrated at the fact that able-bodied people see them as an inspiration for just having a disability. You may be a lazy person with no ambition, but simply because you are in a wheelchair you are an inspiration to them. I can certainly understand why this would aggravate many because people with disabilities since they just want to be seen as “normal” people who are complemented on being inspiration for what they do; not just for the fact that they are in a wheelchair.
However, I have a slightly different outlook and perhaps my dark sense of humor might contribute to this, but when someone calls me an inspiration even when I am just sitting quietly in a corner I always seem to find myself chuckling in amusement. Also, I love to be different and my wheelchair is just one part of my life that sets me apart from many others.
The way I look at it is this – Continue reading
Aaron and I just got back from our honeymoon the other week where we drove several hours from Raleigh, North Carolina to Asheville, North Carolina. I had been wanting to see Asheville for the past 15 years and Aaron had attended University in that neck of the woods. People fly all over the world to visit this lush and scenic city, and I can’t believe I had lived in Raleigh for the last several years and not made a trip over there. We decided to forgo an international honeymoon to save on plane tickets in order to have a five-star honeymoon in Asheville.
We embarked on so many adventures, stayed in extravagant resort hotels, explored several of the hundreds of breweries, went on a waterfall adventure, partook in some hand glassblowing, joined in on the Friday night drum circles in the heart of downtown Ashville, and so much more. At the end of this blog you’ll see a myriad of fun photos from our adventures.
While we were having a lazy morning in bed one day a topic of conversation arose with respect to all of the circumstances in life that had to play out accordingly in order for us to be where we are today. There are folks in life where the puzzle pieces just seem to fall where they may and life works out smoothly. For most of us, this is not really the case. We have to work hard, throw in some blood sweat and tears, push through challenging hardships, and go through our personal journeys in order to achieve where we are in life today.
This is no exception for the two of us. I cannot speak for Aaron, but as for myself, there are so many factors being paralyzed I had to overcome to have that lazy morning with my husband on the most romantic honeymoon. Continue reading
They say it takes a village to raise a well-rounded child. While this may not be the case in the modern times we live in, in the past, an entire community would watch out for a child while their parents went out to work to provide for their children.
I think similar parallels can be drawn today when a person has a traumatic injury, disease, or disability. If you are on your own with no support or help when you break your neck, for example, life can be infinitely more challenging with an extremely bleak outlook for life without the support of family, friends or community.
I can personally attest that I would not be where I am today without a Herculean effort from my family and closest friends. This article is dedicated to more people than I will be able to thank personally in helping me survive the ICU in the early days 9 years ago to walking down the aisle just a few weeks ago.
Read the rest on PUSH LIVING MAGAZINE:
https://pushliving.com/behind-the-scenes-from-the-icu-to-t…/
When I moved from China to Raleigh back in 2015 I could not have imagined ever getting married, let alone getting married to my “Partner in Crime” and best friend. I married Aaron Watkins on Saturday, May 18 and it was one of the happiest days of my life!
I would be remiss not to clearly thank my family and Aaron’s family for everything they did to make this wedding possible. My parents have been there every step of the way for me, unwavering in support and love, which is why I truly believe I am where I am today. Sometimes they say it takes a village to raise a baby, but in my case it took a clan of Ingersoll’s to raise me after the accident.
I was so certain when I was first injured 9 years ago that I would have a fulfilling life, but a life without love and a partner. I had come to terms with this and made peace in my mind. What I did not realize is how much love can literally transform one’s outlook on life. I used only live from one challenge to another – now I look forward to future adventures, and when those challenges do arise I know will have someone by my side every step of the way.
Originally we wanted to have a very small ceremony with immediate family only, but my father thankfully convinced me this was an occasion we would not want to forget. He was right in more ways than one.
We had family and friends from Raleigh, around the United States, London, Germany, France, and China join us for four days of round-the-clock festivities. It was a world wind weekend and I prepared for months to make sure everything went smoothly – and it was over so quickly. Everyone always told me to make sure to take a moment and enjoy everything around you when you’re getting married, which is exactly what I did. I neurotically planned everything down to a T and the week before the wedding I was relaxed, present, and able to connect with people who I had not seen in over 10 years.
I didn’t even realize how much love Aaron and I have in our life and support around the globe. Living life is about people, relationships, and quality time in my opinion. I know at the end of my life I will not look back at how hard I worked, but rather the people who have influenced my life, and I theirs.
While I meticulously planned the wedding there are just certain factors you cannot control. I ended up getting severe bronchitis three weeks prior to the wedding. I did everything in my power and by some universal grace I stopped coughing four days before the wedding.
Unfortunately, I also developed a pressure sore that Thursday before the wedding. I was very careful, leaned back in my chair a lot to shift the weight off my bum, and I don’t know why or how, but I got really really lucky!
Now, onto the Wedding Celebration Festivities:
Aaron and I are getting married next Saturday, May 18. We’ve invited 70 of our close friends and family. Originally we started with only 30 guests, but somehow we’ve ended up with 70 guests 🙂 It’s going to be such a magical day as there are so many family friends I have not seen in over a decade. We have a weekend full of events to celebrate. We are very excited and scrambling to finalize last-minute details.
Unfortunately, I’ve developed bronchitis at the most inopportune time and have been battling it for the last several weeks. I have one week to go before the wedding and I am doing everything in my power to get well quickly.
It’s been a challenging several weeks as bronchitis for quadriplegics can be immensely difficult since we do not have abdominal muscles to help us cough up that nasty phlegm associated with bronchitis. It’s not a pretty sight! However, dealing with any kind of illness as a quadriplegic requires help from caregivers, family members, and loved ones. I’ve had a team of people helping me over the last several weeks for which I am extremely grateful.
I have locked myself down in my house for the last 3 weeks and have had many hours to rest, read, and recuperate. I came across this article written by the New Yorker on the topic of “What Romance really means after 10 years of Marriage.” The basic premise of the article addressed how the definition of a romance and sexiness changes after a decade of marriage. This really resonated with me because from the perspective of dating a person with a disability I find that Aaron and I have transformed our definition of romance in just a few short years, which I suspect takes many couples a decade to achieve.
Let me explain. Continue reading
