Letters: April 2015


A Person’s True Value

Thanks for the reminder of what a person’s value is based on and what loving someone really means

[“Second Chance,” Feb. 2015]. I was married for three years and had two children when I hit a tree in 1975, resulting in a complete C7 injury and also a closed head injury. Marriage, I learned, is compromising and facing challenges. In December we will celebrate our 43rd anniversary.
David Collins
Montgomery, Maryland

Life-Changing Article
I received my copy of the February issue today, and it has by far been the most important piece of writing I’ve read in a long time [“Sex, Women, and SCI”]. I’m a 20-year-old female with a SCI since I was 7, and I have recently begun facing the idea of sex in my life. I have been very discouraged about the idea, so it was quite overwhelming to read this article … so reassuring to read that I could actually have fulfilling sexual experiences, and to find out that there are resources out there I can look to for more information, that I started crying. I cannot put into words how much you have helped me.
Samantha Clonch
Sandusky, Ohio

Inspiring: Caring Staff
I was born with spina bifida and recently have developed a sore on the bottom of my foot — wound care, IV antibiotics, soon to start hyperbaric therapy (bone is infected). Loved this article [“Accessible Wound Care from the Inside Out,” Feb. 2015]. It is so inspiring to hear about the great care Encompass HealthCare Wound Medicine gives their patients.
Sheila L
via newmobiity.com

On Wound Care
I highly recommend a silicone foam product called MEPILEX and MEPILEX LITE for skin protection. It’s breathable and doesn’t cause irritation or skin breakdown due to application of adhesive dressings. Please understand that I’m not addressing the problem of how to heal anything, just how to protect broken or thin skin. I use MEPILEX LITE on the thin skin on my ankles, under my compression stockings [to prevent breakdown].
JB Abajian
via newmobility.com

What a Journey!
Perseverance? Oh my! … and this is an accounting of the last half of their trek [“Journey to the End of the World,” Feb. 2015].
Molly Sacco Hale
via newmobility.com

One Very Funny Man
I’m very late with this comment, but I only just got to read the November 2014 issue, and I just wanted to write and say what a great piece of writing the “Worst of Smart Ass Cripple” was! I haven’t laughed like that in a long time. This kind of writing is great for all audiences, and I think it would be quite (slyly) educational for nondisabled people as well. I truly think this is some of the best and funniest writing concerning disability I have ever read. Thanks to Mike Ervin for great laughs and smart entertainment — we could all use more of that!
Johanna
Sonomo County, California

I Want This Product!
One viewing of this remarkable product — [TEK Robotic Mobilization device, www.matiarobotics.com] — is all I needed to convince myself that I could have the life I thought I had lost forever. It addresses every single issue that I live with daily and that no one else can understand, especially the amount of energy I have to expend just to get up in the morning. Of course, I have to keep reaching for the stars because I live in the United States of America, where the FDA is so concerned for my well-being that they find it necessary to hold this miracle just out of reach because of some infinitesimal excuse — for my own good, of course.

This is nothing new in my experience, because most things I have found that do my MS any good at all have required trips abroad. Although the TEK device is outrageously expensive [$18,000], I would sell everything I have (except my progeny) and borrow the rest to regain independence of this magnitude.
Carol Rosenthal
San Antonio, Texas


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