On 12th July, Brethertons visited the Stoke Mandeville Spinal Centre in support of the Fish and Chips night organised by the Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research charity.
It was a pleasure to support such an informative evening which, after enjoying the yummy food, was rounded off with a Q&A session led by Ralph Charlwood and Jamie Polk who are some of the charity’s ambassadors.
Here is some advice that came from the session which may be useful if you or someone you know has been affected by spinal cord injury:
- Make friends with your GP – when you are discharged, your main point of contact with the medical support system will be through your GP. Ensuring you have a good relationship and good communication with your GP will help your discharge experience be as smooth as possible and will allow you to stay connected with medical professionals should your circumstances change once you arrive home.
- Be confident in communicating how you would like to be cared for – you are the best person to tell people about how you like to be cared for once you are discharged. Often your family, friends and even some medical professionals will not fully understand how best to help you with your spinal cord injury, and they will not be offended if you are clear with your instructions and confident in your requests for any special considerations in your social or medical situations on discharge.
- Attend NAIDEX – held every year in the UK, NAIDEX is a flagship event for the disability community and allows you to peruse and purchase any specialist equipment and listen to talks from other spinal cord injured people who may be in similar situations to you.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help, or to refuse help – it is expected that family and friends will try to help you integrate back into your home life and it may become frustrating that you cannot now do the things you used to. Don’t be afraid to say you can’t do something, and similarly, if you can do something and want to maintain your independence on it, let them know you do not need assistance. Remember to thank them either way – they will always come back then!
- Engage with your local spinal cord injured community early on – your close friends and family will want to be involved in your home life, but they may not always understand what you are feeling. By making and staying connected with friends in the local spinal community, you give yourself the opportunity to speak to people who really get it and can talk to you about anything. They will often know more than your family when it comes to aftercare or navigating life after discharge.
Brethertons are proud to have sponsored such a positive evening and hope that the advice and connections made last night will help the spinal cord injured community feel supported in challenging times.
