Question
My fiance was in an accident on Memorial Day 2006.  He feel off a rock cliff while fishing.  He broke his C4-5 and L1, 2, 3.  His lumbar 1-3 has healed on it own and the C 4-5 was fused and the neck brace comes off in a few weeks.  As a result of this accident he is a quadraplegic.

My question to you is:  How long, intially, after an accident, with the spinal cord, is there room for rehabilitation, with results, realisticly?

I know that this is a very broad question that you may or may not be able to answer.

I also want to give you alittle info about his health situation so that you can also consider all possibilities.

He is on a ventilator, he has an open stomach wound due to a fistula from his ostomy, he has a very bad stage 4 bed sore on his butt.

Any questions that you think might be relevet to fully answer question please feel freee to email me.

Thank you

April  

Answer
Hi April,

Thanks so much for your question.

Someone with an injury such as a spinal cord injury should have rehab as soon as possible for best results. Preferably, within, about 6 months.   

In his case, he probably can begin rehab but will need to have the sores taken care of first. Most rehabilitation centers are set up to take care of the medical needs along with rehab. If the sores are not taken care of, they can hinder or slow his rehab.

Remember, because the spinal cord is very complex, it would be difficult to determine what results may be obtained through rehab. There are many variables that come into play such as, the severity of the injury, the determination of the individual, etc..

I hope this helps and if you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask me anytime.

Thanks again,
John McKinzie