Post by markcameron on Dec 16, 2009 20:06:28 GMT -5
Hello Team Cameron,
Is everyone in full swing for this year's Christmas? I have been pecking away at my Christmas list and should be finished in time for the fat man to come down the chimney. You've got a few days left before all the presents need to be wrapped. Get out and enjoy the crowds at the mall.
I was telling someone about my time at Craig Hospital during rehab and was reminded of one of my favorite anniversaries, December the 17th 2004. On September 12 it was determined that my spinal cord injury and surgery was such that I would need a machine to breathe.
They inserted the tube into my trachea just below my Adams Apple that inflated my lungs. I depended on that ventilator to keep me alive and found out just before Thanksgiving that it was determined that I would return home as a "vent dependent."
That day I was determined to prove them wrong. With the undying help and support of everyone around me and some grit I beat that machine and proved the doctors and therapists wrong on December 17, two weeks before the goal I set of New Year's.
There was much celebration that day. I remember a number of friends and family calling me that they along with staff members congratulating me and doctors stopping by the room with well-wishes. It was definitely my biggest highlight since the day of the accident. It was also the second of three goals I set when leaving Kansas University Hospital.
On the morning I was checking out of the hospital my sister sat at my bedside and helped me determine three goals to achieve during my recovery. The first goal, to regain the ability to swallow and enjoy an orange Gatorade was accomplished on day two at Craig. The second goal was to eliminate my dependency of the ventilator and third was to regain enough movement to hug again.
I saw a movie on Monday night with Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela. The movie named Invictus, like the poem, was based on Nelson Mandela's focus to bring peace to South Africa by winning the Rugby World Cup. At one point during the movie Morgan Freeman was reciting the poem, "Invictus" and it reminded me of my third goal that I had set for myself over five years ago.
I will be five years ventilator free on the 17th of this month which was the second of my three goals. I try everyday to raise my arms for the conventional hug and am reminded quickly that I will be the one to determine when I stop trying.
"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
Have a great week. Stay warm, it's darn cold outside and keep in mind that when you are setting your New Year's resolution that YOU are the one that determines the success or failure of your goals.
Love, Mark
Is everyone in full swing for this year's Christmas? I have been pecking away at my Christmas list and should be finished in time for the fat man to come down the chimney. You've got a few days left before all the presents need to be wrapped. Get out and enjoy the crowds at the mall.
I was telling someone about my time at Craig Hospital during rehab and was reminded of one of my favorite anniversaries, December the 17th 2004. On September 12 it was determined that my spinal cord injury and surgery was such that I would need a machine to breathe.
They inserted the tube into my trachea just below my Adams Apple that inflated my lungs. I depended on that ventilator to keep me alive and found out just before Thanksgiving that it was determined that I would return home as a "vent dependent."
That day I was determined to prove them wrong. With the undying help and support of everyone around me and some grit I beat that machine and proved the doctors and therapists wrong on December 17, two weeks before the goal I set of New Year's.
There was much celebration that day. I remember a number of friends and family calling me that they along with staff members congratulating me and doctors stopping by the room with well-wishes. It was definitely my biggest highlight since the day of the accident. It was also the second of three goals I set when leaving Kansas University Hospital.
On the morning I was checking out of the hospital my sister sat at my bedside and helped me determine three goals to achieve during my recovery. The first goal, to regain the ability to swallow and enjoy an orange Gatorade was accomplished on day two at Craig. The second goal was to eliminate my dependency of the ventilator and third was to regain enough movement to hug again.
I saw a movie on Monday night with Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela. The movie named Invictus, like the poem, was based on Nelson Mandela's focus to bring peace to South Africa by winning the Rugby World Cup. At one point during the movie Morgan Freeman was reciting the poem, "Invictus" and it reminded me of my third goal that I had set for myself over five years ago.
I will be five years ventilator free on the 17th of this month which was the second of my three goals. I try everyday to raise my arms for the conventional hug and am reminded quickly that I will be the one to determine when I stop trying.
"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
Have a great week. Stay warm, it's darn cold outside and keep in mind that when you are setting your New Year's resolution that YOU are the one that determines the success or failure of your goals.
Love, Mark