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gown before the ceremony to share the wedding with me in another way. That’s when I learned I could have positive things happen, but in a way that surprised me; new and different ways.
The next week I was transferred back to Tucson to the only rehab center in Tucson that would accept me as a patient with my level of care and my insurance. I shared a room with a woman who had been in a coma for 16 years. She made an impression on me. At the facility I had Physical Therapy trying to get me to hold myself up. The Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) was a man named Bill who has become my lifelong friend and therapy helper. While I was at the facility for 6 weeks, my husband was redesigning and remodeling our house to accommodate me with my new disabilities and needs.
I was determined to go home but also afraid to go home. I worried who would take care of me. I couldn’t expect my husband to provide my care, he was almost 80 years old and I needed complete care 24-hours a day. I was a very independent person who was now 100% reliant on others for everything. I contacted the health related advisors at the University of Arizona to see about student helpers to be caregivers. I interviewed people interested in working while in the Tucson facility before I went home and hired 3 young college students. One of the students had been a caregiver for her ex-boyfriend who was a quad. She was very competent and lovely and trained the other caregivers in how to take care of me. She also taught me what I needed! My wonderful PTA came by the house three times a week. I remember being very frightened and worried about what would happen to me. So began the next chapter in my life; living as a quadriplegic.
I faced many challenges after my injury. Obviously, I lost complete ability to take care of myself and had to depend on others for all of my basic needs and self-care. From the neck down I was immobile. All my activities from before the injury were gone including working at the University, Artmaking, gardening, housework, cooking, working with my horse, travelling, visiting family and friends outside my house, driving, using my computer, making a phone call and even holding a book to read.
The biggest challenge was to find caregivers to take care of me at home. I worried a lot about that and still face challenges finding caregivers to help me. I felt I could manage the changing relationships with my family and friends, navigating the wheelchair and my home and my future as an Artist and Art Professor. I was determined.
I remained positive in the early stages of my injury because I always believed I would regain my body within a year. That didn’t happen but I