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My advice for a newly injury person is to be an advocate for self and not give up.
The major challenge I faced after getting hurt was getting my former PCP to provide proper care because she believed that only older individuals get spinal cord injuries from falling. I had to remind her that if you also suffer from degenerative disc disease of the spine, you are already at risk for spinal cord injury. All it may take is just one simple fall and that's it, you've got yourself a spinal cord injury. That is actually what happened to me, just one fall. Another challenged I also faced with my new injury is that I have a beautiful Invacare Action SA Pro Wheelchair that now needed a foot plate. I checked with my insurance which is United Healthcare Dual Complete because I also get Social Security Disability Insurance every month and when I checked my insurance, I found out it doesn't cover foot plates. This is because they consider my wheelchair to be recreational and not a wheelchair I need for every day heavy-usage. There have been some challenges with getting my insurance to cover certain things but I am unfortunately not the only person where I live with SCI and who has had to go through red tape with insurance just to get what they need.
My life did change when I could no longer walk. I now have to be in a wheelchair all the time and I have to do things from my wheelchair such as dishes and meal prep. I do have someone who assists me with house work.
If you are interested in being featured in the "Consumer Corner" segment, please contact Allison via email @ [email protected]