Question
HOW OLD ARE YOU, WHAT LEVEL ARE YOU, HOW MANY HOURS OF ATTENDANT CARE DO YOU REQUIRE, CAN YOU FEED YOURSELF. I AM QUAD TOO SINCE 86, LIKE LATE CHRIS REEVES,BUT NO VENTILATER. IN GREAT SHAPE, HOW ABOUT YOURSELF.

Answer
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for your questions.

I am a 47 year old C3-C4 quad since 1977. I have a nurse's aide that comes each morning for my a.m. care. I also have my fiance and my parents to help with other needs like feeding and turning.

I feel like I am in relatively good health as a quad. Although, I do have problems with my blood pressure going extremely high or low. There is not much the doctors can due because the fluctuation can happen within literally seconds. My pressure can drop 100 points or more in less than a minute. The highest so far was 244/137 and the lowest was 39/26. The scariest time for me was when the dystolic [bottom number] went over 200.

The doctors can't give any long-term medication to keep the pressure up or down but I do use a narcotic to bring it down when it goes over 200 but that wears off in a few hours.

I've also had 2 close calls with death. In 2000 I had a reaction to an antibiotic which caused respiratory and liver failure thus putting me into a coma for few days. And in 2001 I stopped breathing in the ER because my CO2 level was at 95 and should have been around 33.

Over the last 28 years, I have had some rough times and, of course, I would rather not be disabled but it has been gratifying to know that I have helped others in some way because my attitude toward my disability.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask me anytime.

Thanks again,
John McKinzie