ParaplegicLiving

Life after a spinal cord injury

Archive for March, 2008

Ribble Valley Villages Ride

Mar 31

Posted by Ed Fletcher in Health, Life, Sports | No Comments

On Saturday I embarked on my biggest cycling challenge to date – the Ribble Valley Villages ride. I am chuffed to write I successfully completed the circuit which takes in such picturesque villages as Downham, Great Mitton, Ribchester, Old Langho, Billington, Whalley, Wiswell, Pendleton and Worston.

It was a beautiful day and the scenery was simply stunning.

 The 47kn ride took 3 hours 50 minutes which is a lot longer than I would normally have liked however the terrain was extremely challenging :- up ‘ill and down dale! My companion on the day – Kral – was very patient in waiting for me to struggle up each gradient.

An exhausting but incredibly rewarding day.

Bank Holiday in Pembrokeshire

Mar 28

Posted by Ed Fletcher in Life, Sports | No Comments

Over Easter I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days down in Pembrokeshire where my parents live with my sister. A great time was had by all particularly me as I was able to indulge in both eating many puddings and pretty rigorous exercise on my handcycle along the hilly coastal roads of South West Wales. I can recommend the ‘Shed’ restaurant in Porthgain as a wonderful setting to have dinner, indeed it was voted seafood restaurant of the year in 2006.

Spinal Cord Injury nerve grafting technique

Mar 26

Posted by admin in Health, Life | No Comments

Doctors in New York have announced new research which used the body’s own nerves to bridge the gap in the spinal cord left by paralysing injuries.

Experimenting on rats, researchers took an abdominal nerve from the spinal column just above an injury and reattached it to the spinal cord below using a protein ‘glue’. Two weeks after the procedure the rats showed some signs of improved movement as the nerve began to grow and formed new connections. Electrical impulses send down the spinal cord caused twitching in the lower limbs, indicating that connections had been made. Other abdominal nerves compensated for the lost connection so there were no ill-effects in the abdominal muscle. Worries are that this nerve may not be able to cope with taking on the more sophisticated role of the spinal cord, and that whilst the position of the spinal cord injury in the experiment suited the use of the abdominal nerve, if the injury was higher or lower on the spine finding a nerve that could be readily ‘sacrificed’ without creating other problems might be difficult.

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Swimming

Mar 18

Posted by Ed Fletcher in Health, Life, Sports | 1 Comment

As part of my training for Triathlon one aspect I am working hard to improve is my swimming ability.

My spinal injury is at T9 and I am delighted to say I swim without the need for floatation aids. Nevertheless when I attempt to carry out any stoke other than back or breast stroke although there is a large degree of splashing and effort leading me  to sink in an undignified flaying of upper limbs to the bottom of the pool!

If anyone has any tips to improve my breast stroke or indeed believe they can tell me how to do the front crawl with my level of paralysis I would be delighted.

Sit ski technique tutorial (how-to)

Mar 14

Posted by admin in Uncategorized | No Comments

More of a technical update this week than a personal one… How to sit ski! Although not too disimilar to a normal ski, it does have a different sensation as it is your shoulders doing the majority of the work and your centre of gravity is so much lower to the ground.

Read the rest of this entry »

MA

Mar 5

Posted by Ed Fletcher in Life, Work | No Comments

I am delighted to blog that yesterday I sent off 2 assessments to Lancaster University as part of my Masters Degree in Developing Professional Practice ( Change Management).

One assessment was a critical discussion on being an ‘insider researcher’ and the other was a paper on different methodologies one can use in research….rock and roll!

Needless to say both papers were as riveting to prepare as they sound.

Bladder stone

Mar 5

Posted by Ed Fletcher in Health | 1 Comment

Last Friday I underwent a procedure at the Northwest Spinal Injuries Centre to remove a Bladder Stone. Since the road traffic accident the regularity of my getting these stones has increased, as is often the case with paraplegia.

It is considered that such stones increase the likelihood of urine tract infections – something I am prone to – therefore destroying the stone was a most worthwhile exercise.

All the staff at the centre were great and the operation went without hitch.

SIA cornflower Ball

Mar 4

Posted by Ed Fletcher in Life, Work | 1 Comment

Last Thursday I attended the SIA cornflower ball at the Manchester Hilton hotel. It was a fun evening and a great opportunity to meet up with old pals including those with with spinal cord injury, barristers and fellow solicitors.

The evening raised a good sum for the Spinal Injuries Association, a charity I am delighted to be involved with.