Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association
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www.azspinal.org
Consumer
Corner
Each month, we want to highlight a consumer of the AZSCIA, hear about their personal journey with SCI, and read about all the remarkable things they've accomplished and continue to do within the community.
This month, we are highlighting Deb Curren. She is going to tell us about her injury story, challenges she faced after her injury, and advice she has for newly injured people. Please take a few minutes to read Deb's empowering story.
On 12/30/18, I was an extremely healthy, very fit woman, who had been going to daily exercise and water aerobics classes. I was very independent. I rode my own Harley motorcycle. I was on no medications of any sort and did not even have a primary care physician, as I did not have any need for one. I was very excited, as I awaited our moving day, tomorrow!
On 12/31/18, at 5:00 a.m., 3 hours before our movers were coming to move us from IL to AZ, I awoke with my legs feeling somewhat weird. I walked downstairs and then returned upstairs to wake up my husband, because of the strange sensation in my legs. We walked back downstairs where I began to feel an extreme pain in my back. I asked my husband to rub my back, but, within minutes, I had to ask him to stop because of my pain. Within 20 minutes my lower half went completely paralyzed. We immediately called the paramedics and I was rushed to Condell Hospital in Libertyville, IL. I had an MRI and was told I suffered a frontal spinal cord stroke (infarct… T8 and T9 on my spinal cord were the areas affected)...a very rare occurrence! No stroke warning that this would happen to me! Needless to say we were in a state of shock. I asked the Doctor if I would ever walk again and he told me it was highly unlikely. I told the hospital staff that this was probably a mistake, as I had movers coming shortly and I had to be on the road to drive to my new home in AZ, because we were now retired. No mistake! This was going to be my new normal!