So anyway, I went out to Craig. Got poked and prodded, but not very many scans and x-rays. They even gave me the x-rays, on a cd. 'Cource I can't make the cd work on a Mac, and the images on the disk seem to be in some strange format, only readable by an included windows based program. So, when I figure them out, as in how to rip thte pictures, you'll be able to see them. Or maybe I'll throw the whole disk up here and let you download it, since most of you use windows.
Since you can't look, yet, I guess I'll tell you. They took shots of the shoulder, to see what the hell was going on in there, a couple shots of the implant, and for some reason unknown to me, an ultrasound of the kidneys and bladder. I guess sci's are more susseptable to something involving those parts, and I don't have it. So don't worry. The shoulder? There's nothing wrong with it either, at least that shows on an x-ray. So after they x-rayed it and looked and said "There's nothing wrong that shows here.", they sent me to a certified orthopedic manual therapist (that's a mouthful huh?) who hooked me right up. Apparently, the ligaments are tightening in the shoulder, which is throwing that whole side of me off. So, she cracked my neck in a few places, which is quite an expierence... Now I know why she asked first, because had I been a higher injury that would really have freaked me out. She also tried to put one of my ribs back into joint, but it's frozen in a semi-dislocated state. Feels great, lemme tell ya. So she then proceeded to stretch those shoulder ligaments, which ... um .... hurts like a bastard. Like really hurts. Alot. But now, after that little hour torture session, 10-some days later I'm still pain free. At least in the shoulder. She reccomended that I go to a manual therapist to keep it from coming back, but without a perscription, insurance won't cover it, and I'm not paying out of pocket. Perhaps the next time I see my local guy (doctor) I'll see if I can't talk him into it. There happens to be a manual therapist in Chico- So amybe all will fall into place when I move.

Then we looked at my back, and apparently one of the screws which holds the implant into place is attached to a disk, not bone. Then there's another one which goes into one of the shattered vertebre, so it's apparently not doing a whole lot either. They looked because I told of that stabbing pain I have back there sometimes. Apparently, the implant isn't causing it, even with that screw into the disk. It's prolly something to do with how the ribs healed, and the tightness of the intercostal muscles. Again, a manual therapist can hook that up, but Bev Parrot, the one at Craig, didn't have time. So maybe the guy in Chico can fix that.

They also did a sensory test, where they take a pin and poke me around the injury level, up and down, all over the place. "Can you feel this?" "No." "Can you feel this?" "No." "Can you feel this?" "No." "Can you feel this?" "OUCH Fuck Off!" "Oh so you felt that?"..... That sort of thing. Once the level was established, they do a sensation test, to see if it's normal, increased, or decreased. Now they did this test tuesday, and I found out that the zone on my back, above the break, has become hypersensitive. That's prolly why it felt like Jeff was using a nail when this happened. We also found out that my sensory level has moved down about an inco or so back there, but I didn't even hear that I was so concerned about the increased sensation zone. You see, not only had it increased, but it moved UP some. Even the backsides of my upper arms are effected now, and that freaked me out, ALOT. I misunderstood, and thought that it meant I was loosing sensation. So I've got that sitting in my mind when I'm over at the Swedish Hospital (A level 1 trauma center- sweet huh?) getting those x-rays, when I see a high level quad, on a vent, driving a power-chair with his chin. he's oviousely been that way for awhile, as his hands and arms were skeletal. I see that poor bastard, and I said to myself "Is that what I have to look forward to?" Scared the be-jeasus out of me. I didn't sleep well, if at all that night, and the next day I had a meeting with my doc, and the first thing I asked him was "What's up with the sensory change?" Turns out it's a good thing, and I haven't anything to worry about. Increased sensation is way better than reduced, and the whole level has dropped. The disadvantage? With that increase comes more pain. So, he doubled my neurontin dose to help take care of it. He also doubled the baclofen as well. So that's gonna be cool, I'll hurt less, and twitch less. And, hopefully, eventually, feel more. However, at an inch a year, i'll be about 85 by the time I can tell when it's time to take a whiz. (those things, from what I can remember, are controlled by nerves eminating from the sacral area, which is the very end of the spinal cord. So I'll feel my toes long before I can feel my ... um... Anyway...)

I scored some loot as well- A new cusion for the chair, and another cusion for the van. A 1 inch Roho, which is an air cusion, whereas my chair cusion has a pile of gell in it. That way I don't get a bit 'ol pressure sore as I galavant around the country in my snipervan. There's a local 'adaptive equipment' shop there in Englewood, which is owned by Craig Hospital, I guess. The folks who work there make up for the excellent service at the hospital- They're slower than a friggin' cripple with no wheelchair. I asked them to replace a little clip on my chair which I had broken- It holds the back in the up position, and with it broken one side of the back was loose, making for interesting transfers at times. Also I asked them to level the thing, and tighten up all the hardware.
So dude takes the chair in the back, leaving me stranded in a chair with no wheels. (the common waiting room type chairs y'all think nothing of) I had to sit in the damn thing, and seeing as I cannot walk, I couldn't do anything but wish I could move for the hour my chair was gone. So, I finally get the thing back, and it appears all is well. It's been a week tho, and all the bolts are coming loose again. Looks like I'm going to be taking a trip to the hardware store tomorrow, to get some new hardware and do it myself.

Go-Ball. I got to play a game of it on ... Wednesday, I think. It rocked- there were about 12 people playing, and I pushed more in that hour than I had in the last 3 months. It's a game the chair class plays there at Craig- totally made up there, as far as I know. It works like this:
One team kicks off to the other. Everyone on that team must touch the ball, then they can score. Scoring is done by having all 4 wheels in the opponent's key (it's plyed on a basketball court) and throwing the ball so it hits the mats on the wall behind the basket. Once a member of the team scores, that member can't score again untill everyone else on the team has. Sounds easy huh? It's not when you've got some guy's footplate in your spokes, another guy trying to pull you out of the chair, and a third guy trying to steal the ball as you try to push to the goal.

So then I went to my sisters in Los Angeles, where things got really-friggin-distracting. No, I didn't have a whole pocket-full of ferrets, I had something else, and that's all you get to know about that.

Allright, that's not *all* that happened, but I've been up since 6, drove 500 miles, and it's now 2am. I'm going to bed, but perhaps I will tell more tomorro. If I don't get distracted again.