My Friend Google.....

Google is my friend. Since my injury, despite being in an acute Neuro surgery ward and then a Neurorehabilitation centre I have not met one other person with a Spinal Cord Injury. I have met other young people coping with disabilities, but these were caused either by MS or in the case of the two guys I met - drugs, one took an unintentional overdose of pretty much everything he could lay his hands on in Phonm Phen, the other shot in the head whilst dealing them in South London. In fact I have only ever met one person in my life who had a Spinal cord injury, altough I did not realise at the time the nature of his disability. My mums next door neighbour was paralysed from the waist down during a life saving operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his spine. In another bizarre twist the surgeon who performed this surgery - Mr. Marsh - also performed the operation to remove the growth from my brain the year before. The lack of contact with other people with similar injuries and the frankly appalling lack of information from the NHS has led me to the Internet. ( The NHS have just today managed to send me a formal diagnosis - via the post!?? Incomplete Spinal cord injury - c6/7 - Asia D...) I'm pretty mad about this. What information I have found out through the NHS has been from Physio's and not the people charged with my recovery - the Neuro consultants. I know that doctors are wary of people self diagnosing through the Internet and I know many Doctors go out of there way to explain but if I have not goggled I would know very little about what has happened to me. I have a permanent, serious, life changing injury - is it that they just dont have the balls to tell me??? Almost all I know about Spasticity, clonus, nerve damage, incomplete or complete spinal injuries I have learnt from the Internet. Many of the articles I have read have filled me with fear, however once I have processed all the information I would rather be informed than in the dark wondering why I cant walk properly. I am now waiting for appointments with both my neuro surgeon and my neuro rehab consultant. I have plenty of questions for both.