Shifting Sands: Life with an Incomplete Injury
By Richard Holicky|2021-05-27T13:41:41-04:00June 1st, 2021|
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Because my incomplete spinal cord injury sometimes lets me stand and even walk, I was seduced by the possibility of more — more function, more normalcy, more of what I used to have. I’m not alone in this, as many people with incomplete injuries are beguiled by the thought of maybe, just maybe, they will be able to undo bad fortune and restore, in some small measure, what was.
Looking back at the past 30-plus years, I see my life with incomplete injury as a wild affair with a mistress who’s been by turns voluptuous, jealous, sultry and vengeful. I call her Mistress Incomplete. At her best, she is an incredible seductress. At her worst, she’s h***-bent on making me pay for any transgression, such as tricking myself into believing my SCI will continue to improve when, more often, the opposite is true.
When I got to rehab, I couldn’t touch my chin with either hand. Five years later I was spending my days doing the stuff of life — cooking, cleaning, dressing and [...]