>> DR.
JEFFERY SALOMONE: Hello, I am Dr. Jeffery Salomone, Co-Director of Trauma at Grady Memorial
Hospital.
The injury of a loved one or friend is a difficult thing to face and we recognize this is a very
challenging time for you.
The goal of this video is to give you a better understanding of spinal cord injury and the
rehabilitation process ahead.
Because a serious spinal cord injury affects not just the individual but the entire family
unit, this video also focuses on the important role of family members during the next several
weeks and months.
The more you can equip yourself with knowledge, the better your loved one’s outcome may
be.
We hope this video will help answer many of the questions you might have about spinal
cord injury.
Thank you for watching and thank you for entrusting the trauma care of your loved one to this
hospital.
>> JUDY FORTIN: Hello, I’m Judy Fortin in Atlanta, Georgia.
I’ll be hosting this video to help you and your family better understand spinal cord
injury and disease.
For much of my career I was a reporter covering healthcare at CNN.
It’s important to me personally to help the public deal with medical and health crisis
issues by bringing them timely, accurate information.
That’s the purpose of this video – to give you and your family helpful information
right now so you can prepare yourselves for the challenges ahead.
People with spinal cord injury and their families need to know about and have access to the
right resources and support to make their recovery as good as it can possibly be.
The sponsors of this video hope to give you a resource that you can return to as often
as you like.
We’ve organized the information so you can select the chapters that address the specific
needs you may have as the patient yourself, or as a concerned friend or family member.
The chapters and sub-chapters within them work just like the items on a movie DVD.
You can select the chapters you want to watch and then use the easy onscreen navigation
to skip forward or go back to another section at any time.
The chapters on this program are: Chapter 1.
– Introduction and About This Video Chapter 2.
– The Anatomy of Spinal Cord & How it Works Chapter 3.
– Understanding Spinal Cord Injury: Its Causes, Effects and Classifications
Chapter 4.
– Tests, Surgeries, Post Op-Devices and Secondary Complications
Chapter 5.
- Levels of Injury explained - Will help you understand your loved one’s specific injury
diagnosis and its impact.
Within this chapter you’ll find sub-chapters with injuries broken out into High Cervical,
Low Cervical and Thoracic.
Chapter 6.
– Practical Advice for Coping With Spinal Cord Injury
Major injuries like the one you are dealing with have complex consequences that may involve
part or all of the central nervous system.
Since the brain and the spinal cord can both be affected in major injuries, it may be important
that you learn about brain and spinal cord injury.
Watch our companion video detailing brain injury for more information.
Throughout both these videos, you’ll hear from some of the nation’s top neuroscientists,
physicians and patient advocates who will help me share timely information with you.
>> JUDY FORTIN: The first few days and weeks after a spinal cord injury are understandably
frightening.
Right now you are probably still dealing with the shock of what’s happened and how it’s
turned your lives upside down.
Shock is an expected natural emotion right now.
You are not alone.
Spinal cord injury affects people throughout the world, with thousands more impacted each
year.
Many people who have successfully come through a spinal cord injury are out there for you
to lean on, along with non-profit groups, doctors, and trained spinal cord and healthcare
specialists.
Your well-meaning friends and relatives may be offering you support, and you may seek
out support groups or information on the Internet.
It can be overwhelming at first.
Take your time – don’t try to learn everything at once.
Most of all, rely on the medical personnel caring for your loved one to help you know
what to focus on next.
Do your best to take things a day at a time and recognize that the smallest progress is
positive.
>> JUDY FORTIN: It’s important to realize that being at the trauma care center is an
interim step in your loved one’s long-term recovery, and there’s a wide range of possible
outcomes down the road.
The most important thing you can do now is learn about what’s to come and maintain
the hope that your loved one’s condition will improve over time.
>> ERIC LARSON: Before being brought to the trauma care center, your loved one was probably
stabilized by paramedics at the site where his or her accident occurred.
They may have immobilized the injured spine to prevent further damage to the nervous system.
Now, you’re in good hands at the trauma care facility.
In the United States, we are very fortunate to have dependable standards for emergency
and trauma care.
These standards establish milestones for trauma care, the first of which is to medically stabilize
the patient’s heart and breathing rates to as close to normal as is possible given
the injury or illness.
For many patients, this involves tubes that help them breathe or eat, and surgical intervention,
if necessary.
So, don’t be alarmed by the tubes and wires that you may see hooked up to your loved one’s
body.
They all serve an important purpose in delivering medication or monitoring the body’s functions
so that the medical staff can be aware of the slightest change.
You might also see cuts, swelling or bruising, depending on the nature of the injury.
These will heal.
Doctors may use a traction device to keep the spine aligned if your loved one does need
to have surgery.
And, due to the damage from the injury or illness, your loved one may experience a loss
of function such as ability to move or feel various parts of the body.
>> DR.
LEON HALEY: It’s important to remind yourself that the person may not look like their normal
self, following an injury but that this is still the same person you love.
Your support will be reassuring to you both.
It’s comforting for you to touch your loved one or hold his or her hand even if he or
she cannot feel it and to say so as you do that.
Showing your loved one support early and often will help prepare them for the road ahead.
It’s natural to wonder what you might do right now to help your loved one and the care
team.
Initially you may be greeted by a nurse or social worker.
Let them help you think of questions you might ask the doctors you’ll see later.
Soon the treatment team will update you on your loved one’s condition.
Ask his or her trauma caregivers to explain the basic tasks they are performing.
And, keep these important tips in mind during the trauma care or hospital stay:
If possible, have one point person gather all of your family’s questions.
Limit visits and the number of visitors at any given time.
Allow yourself or your loved one time to rest between visits.
Have everyone who visits maintain a soft and calm tone of voice.
Assume that your loved one can hear you and be careful of everything that is said within
earshot.
Your role right now is to support their recovery in an encouraging and positive way.
If your loved one is able, encourage him or her to move around as much as their condition
and their medical team will allow.
Movement might include coughing to stimulate breathing muscles, deep breathing,
sitting up, or moving around the room.
>> JUDY FORTIN: Chapter Two is next.
We’ll share some basics about the anatomy of the spinal cord and how it works.