PRIVATE SCI ROOM AVAILABLE FOR VA PATIENTS By Bev Davis
Veterans who have suffered a spinal cord injury now have a facility in which they can recuperate comfortably and conveniently during a hospital stay at the Veterans Administration Center in Beckley, West Virginia.
“We took a ward with four beds and made it into an in-patient room with every possible convenience for a person with a spinal cord injury,” said Janie Flanagan, SCI coordinator. “There is no obstacle to getting around in the room, even if they have a large power chair.”
The spacious private room is equipped with automatic doors leading into it and includes a private accessible bathroom. There is a floor-level shower and automatic sink and commode. An airflow mattress on the bed prevents pressure sores and Skin Breakdown. A wall TV can easily pull out right in front of the patient.
“Everything is user-friendly,” Flanagan said. “Everything is automatic and operates with touch-button ease. Everything is state-of-the-art and provides the very best comfort and convenience we could provide.”
The West Virginia Division of Tourism sent a CD with permission to download any of a number of beautiful scenic spots. Flanagan chose several, had them enlarged and framed and had them placed on the walls of the room.
“Our veterans can enjoy a scene from every season of the year and have a sense of the beauty of the outdoors,” she said. There is also a patient education display available for reading materials.
Nearly 38,000 veterans live in the 12-county area served by the Beckley VAMC, Flanagan said. There has been an increase in the number of patients with spinal cord injuries, and that trend may continue as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
Patients with Multiple Sclerosis can also benefit from the SCI room. “MS is a neurological disorder that impairs the ability to function. Patients with MS will also be able to use this room,” Flanagan said.
LIVING WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY By Kim Arnold
The changes are dramatic and quite profound. They begin immediately, whether the damage results from injury such as a Motor vehicle accident, diving, gunshot wound or disease process, for the individual the course is the same. It usually means there is 12 months of healing and Rehabilitation. It means becoming intimately acquainted with dozens of health care professionals, including doctors, nurses and both physical and occupational therapists. Ultimately it will mean learning to live again within the community, returning perhaps to either work or school.
People do not become different when they become paralyzed; they have the same loves, the same sense of humor, desires and expectations. They do, however, need to find a new framework with which to live their lives.
The long term picture of people with spinal cord injury is far more optimistic than it was only two generations ago. Then it was simply a matter of how long it would take to succumb to a fatal infection of the urinary tract, bed sores or pneumonia. In World War I, 50% of soldiers with SCI were expected to die within two weeks, which they usually went ahead and did.
Things did not change much until the mid 1940's and they have continued to progress since then. So is there a cure coming? There are many answers to this question: “maybe”, “probably”, “ looks promising”, “let's hope”, and “they are working on it”. But what is really happening? Clinical trials have begun for several treatments for people with long term paralysis due to SCI or multiple sclerosis. Despite plenty of optimism nothing is yet certain. The bottom line with a spinal cord injury is the damage that is done to the Central Nervous System. The nervous system is composed of two parts: the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the Peripheral nervous system (all the rest). When damage is done in the Peripheral Nervous System those nerves are capable of Regeneration. In the central nervous system scar tissue rushes to the area, so that although the nerves may be growing to attempt reconnection they are blocked by scar tissue. That now leaves us with
