TC ... Comeback kid!

Edina man shares triumphs, trials as he recovers from spinal injury
Excerpt:

The name of Thomas Cloyd's blog says it all: "TC - The Comeback."

In it, he shares the trials and triumphs of a 25-year-old man who is learning how to live with a spinal cord injury while working to regain as much strength and functioning as possible.

Cloyd, of Edina, has made much physical progress in the six months since he dove into a shallow part of a Wisconsin lake, damaging his spinal cord. But those who know him say his positive attitude and sense of humor are just as remarkable.

Through his blog, he proves both are still intact. "I started blogging so people could see where I was [with recovery], because so many people were concerned. It's a good record for me, too," Cloyd said. "It's really nice just to do it and to know people are reading it. I'm just a vain SOB," he joked.

Cloyd's posts, dictated to his dad or a friend, are filled with jokes about "nearly striking children and running over small dogs" while taking his power-assist wheelchair for a spin around Lake Harriet, thank-yous to those who have sent him gifts and money, and reflection on how painful his injury can be.

Comment: T.C. - The Comeback Blog. This guy is courageous. Visit his blog!

I'm thankful I can walk

Bionic Legs For Paraplegics? Want To Try It Out Yourself?

Comment: 23 years ago today! I walked out of Craig Spinal Cord Rehab Hospital. They wanted me to have a wheelchair and I refused. They called me stubborn. Could be!

Kevin Everett returns to Buffalo

Everett attends Bills game: Buffalo TE returns to scene of Sept. spinal injury

Excerpt:

Bills tight end Kevin Everett arrived at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday morning to watch Buffalo's home season finale, less than four months since sustaining a severe spinal cord injury on the same turf.

Everett addressed teammates about two hours before the game against the Giants. He left the locker room in a wheelchair and then, on his own power, climbed into a covered golf cart before being driven up the tunnel and out of the stadium.

Comment: All CFG Kevin Everett postings

Kevin Everett is walking!

Bills' Everett walking on his own, in and out of rehab

Excerpt:

Kevin Everett is walking on his own at a Houston rehab center, the latest significant progress by the Buffalo Bills tight end in his remarkable recovery from a serious spinal cord injury.

"He doesn't have a full natural stride but, yeah, he's walking," a person close to the family told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of Everett's status.

The person said Everett has been walking under his own power since his release from Memorial Hermann/TIRR three weeks ago and is now an outpatient there. The person added Everett is picked up at his Houston-area home by car to attend daily rehab sessions and is able to walk to and from the facility.

"He's not driving or anything like that, but he is walking. He's not running. He is walking," the person said.

Doctors initially feared Everett would never walk again after what was described as a life-threatening injury while making a tackle in the Sept. 9 season opener against Denver. He was paralyzed from the neck down when he arrived at Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital and spent the first few days on life support.


Comment: Truly good news! I rejoice in his progress. All CFG Kevin Everett posts.

Kevin Everett released

Bills TE Everett released from Houston rehab center

Excerpt:

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Bills tight end Kevin Everett has been released from a Houston hospital to resume his next phase of rehab, 10 weeks since sustaining a severe spinal cord injury.

"While this news is a significant milestone for me, I still have a long journey to full recovery," Everett said in a statement released Sunday by Houston's Memorial Hermann/TIRR, where the player spent the past two months in rehab.

It was unclear when this week he was released, but Everett will continue his rehab at the facility as an outpatient.

"I was fortunate to meet many extraordinary people at Memorial Hermann/TIRR, many who have suffered the same or similar injury as myself, many of whom I now consider friends," Everett said. "Their courage and determination inspired me to fight every day for recovery of my ability to walk."


Previous Kevin Everett posts

Comment: Of special interest to me.

My home 20 years ago

20 years ago I spent 11 weeks hospitalized: From Labor Day (September 7th) unto Thanksgiving (November 25th). Nine of those weeks were at the renowned Craig Hospital. I don't actually think about those times much, but for 20 years I have participated in Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique -- “CHART” (Craig's long term disability research). Tonight is my night to be interviewed by a Craig Hospital researcher! And memories of 20 years flood back!

Memories:

1. Friends met
   
2. Bible studies in the chapel
   
3. "Wheelchair class"
   
4. Learning to transfer from bed to wheelchair ... floor to wheelchair ... etc.
   
5. Learning to dress myself & tie my shoes (I still struggle with tieing my left shoe! Something about the weakness in the left hand!)
   
6. Pool therapy and "walking" for the first time standing chest deep in water.
   
7. The food I loved there (every day the kitchen would make me pancakes and fried egg) and food hated (Ratatouille)
   
8. Kathee driving our old beat up '68 VW bug to the hospital every day. Meeting me after lunch and staying until after dinner. On warm evenings, parking my wheelchair on the patio and watching Kathee drive past me on the way home!
   
9. The woman (name forgotten) who lost her unborn baby. She had broken her back in an ATV accident.
   
10. Lenny being told he would be a quadriplegic the rest of his life. He broke his neck in a train accident. His fiance was uninjured! Lenny was my roommate for more than a month. Sadly Lenny died several short years later!
    
11. The subluxation of my spinal fusion and facing surgery again (wouldn't happen until January 1988).
    

Craig was my home for 9 of those 11 weeks. I thank God for enabling me to be there and caring for me through those Doctors, nurses, and caregivers!

Update on Kevin Everett

Kevin Everett is the Buffalo Bills tight end who suffered a spinal cord injury in early September.

Earlier Doctors indicated that he would walk again.

Today's update is that he is 'showing great movement in his legs':

Excerpt:

Kevin Everett has developed enough strength to hold himself up briefly on a walker, and he can also use his feet to push himself around in a wheelchair, the latest signs of progress as the Buffalo Bills' tight end recovers from a severe spinal cord injury.

...
"He can go from point A to B on his feet in a wheelchair. He can go as far as he wants to go," Armstead said, noting he's watched Everett wheel himself to the elevator and head outside. "He's showing great movement in his legs."

Everett was hurt making a tackle in the Bills' season opener against Denver on Sept. 9. He arrived at Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Hospital paralyzed from the neck down, and doctors initially feared he'd never walk again.

The prognosis changed a few days later when Everett began showing voluntary movement first in his legs and then his hands.

Armstead said Everett is now able to open and close both hands, another significant step after he showed only slight movement in his fingers while spending the first two weeks of his recovery in Buffalo.

Comment: Of interest to me because his injury is 20 years (to the week) after my spinal injury. So I am watching his progress! With excitement!

All Kevin Everett CFG posts

Doctor Says Bills’ Everett Will Walk Again

Doctor Says Bills’ Everett Will Walk Again



Sports / Pro Football
Doctor Says Bills’ Everett Will Walk Again
By MATT HIGGINS
Published: September 12, 2007
One day after doctors described his condition as potentially life-threatening, Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett was moving his arms and legs Tuesday.

Excerpt:

The doctor who performed surgery on Everett, Andrew Cappuccino, said Everett’s condition had “improved.”

Another doctor, who has consulted with Cappuccino, said Tuesday that Everett could eventually walk out of the hospital.

“Kevin Everett is moving his arms and legs, his legs stronger than his arms,” said the consulting doctor, the neurosurgeon Barth Green. “He’s moving them both to a point, to a degree that he will end up walking. He will walk out of the hospital.”

Comment: Encouraging news.

In my prayers

Everett's injury 'catastrophic' - Doctor: Paralysis likely for Bills TE after spinal surgery



Cappuccino repaired a break between the third and fourth vertebrae and also alleviated the pressure on the spinal cord. In reconstructing his spine, doctors made a bone graft and inserted a plate, held in by four screws, and also inserted two small rods, held in place by another four screws.

Comment: This is close to the injury I had 20 years ago (Labor Day 1987). My injury was at C4-C5. I thank God that I can walk.

Happenings: Kathee very tired as she was up until 1 a.m. working a system issue. She is filling out rebate paperwork for the Apple Nano and HP Printer. I am exploring the MacBook. Tonight's reading was I Chronicles 21 & 22. I got my Fastmail account set up with the Apple mail client (using IMAP). Also I imported my address book into the Apple address book. I figured out Cut and Paste. I ordered 2 OS X Tiger books from Amazon and hope to in time to take on vacation.