Baby, It's Cold Outside!

I hate winter! SERIOUSLY!! I mean, this "global warming" thing has got to STOP if it means I keep waking up to 16° F mornings with highs in the 30s...which is exactly what's been happening for the last several weeks. Ordinarily, my koi pond may freeze once in a freak cold snap each year, but it's been frozen over for days! I know that to those of you reading this from places where it gets "really cold", you're probably thinking I'm a wimp, but this just isn't natural for Georgia, & I can't handle this cold! No, I mean I REALLY can't handle it.

As a quadriplegic, my body doesn't regulate it's temperature properly. The technical term is poikilothermic, which means that my body temperature varies with that of the environment. Merriam-Webster defines it as "the state of being cold-blooded" (& no, I'm not referring to my personality, so no wise cracks). This term usually describes all animals except birds & mammals, so I am using it a bit loosely, but it's the best description of what I deal with.

You see, in most people, the nerves that run throughout their bodies send signals through the spinal cord to the brain that let it know if the body is hot or cold (above or below 98.6°F on average). If it's hot, the brain sends signals through the spinal cord telling the body to sweat. The moisture on the skin in turn cools the body. When it's cold, the brain sends those signals telling the body to shiver & for the blood vessels to constrict, raising blood pressure & warming the body.

Because of my spinal cord injury, my cord is blocked, preventing messages from passing back & forth (think: outage on a phone line...the body is making the call & the brain is making the call, but neither one can get through.) This causes several problems:

1. I don't sweat.
2. I don't shiver.
3. I don't move around much.
4. I can't tell when I'm getting too hot or too cold until it's too late.
5. Additionally, I happen to have very low blood pressure normally - 80/50 on average - & a lower normal body temperature - 97°.

So here's the scenario: In the summer, if I don't pay careful attention to the outside temperature & humidity, I can get over heated. My body won't sweat, so my temperature just keeps rising. I've measured it as high as 104°F, but I can usually tell I'm in trouble by the time it hits 101° or 102°. I get stuffy headed, miserable, splotches on my skin...the usual signs of fever. At that point, all I can do is get in air conditioning, put cold cloths or ice on my neck & thighs & drink lots of cold water. This little problem has sent me to the emergency room a couple of times, but after 23 years, I'm pretty in-tune with my body & manage to avoid danger. How? If I'm outside, I dress in thin, sleeveless clothes, I stay in the shade, use a misty sprayer on my skin (think: artificial sweat), drink ice water, use a "cool wrap" on my neck, etc. And at the first sign of over-heating, I go inside. I have had to use some "at home" treatment a few times, but I haven't been the the ER for this since I left my high school reunion in an ambulance in June, 2000 (Yeah. What an exit.)

The winter is different (read: worse). When it's cold, my true "lizard & snake" connection really shows. When I get hot, I feel uncomfortable, but when I get cold, I'm downright MISERABLE!! Because I can't move around much & I have low blood pressure, I get cold VERY easily. I can feel when I'm cold, too...mostly in my shoulders, ears & face since I have normal sensation there. Because of this, I tend to hunch-up my shoulders a lot in lieu of shivering, which causes neck & shoulder pain leading to headaches. If I'm not careful, I can go from "just cold" to "borderline hypothermia" fairly quickly.

I've only had one recorded "medical emergency" from my being cold. It occurred in February, 1987, when I was still at Shepherd Center. It was about 2 am & I was awakened from a "sound sleep" (read: semi-consciousness) by several nurses working feverishly (pardon the pun) to raise my temperature. They had been doing their rounds checking vitals & couldn't get my temperature to register...& couldn't wake me. I came to as they were piling warmed blankets on me, putting a hat on my head & trying to get me to drink hot chocolate. I did, of course, eventually warm up, but they were pretty concerned for awhile. Since then, when I have gotten really cold, I've just repeated their treatment at home - piled on blankets & hats, drunk warm liquids & (my trick) turned a hot hairdryer on my head, neck & shoulders. Mostly, though, I try to avoid getting that cold in the first place.

Unfortunately, it is far more difficult getting me warm when I'm cold than cooling me down when I'm hot. I live most of the winter in sweatshirts & blankets. I don't go out anywhere very often - I'm pretty much a shut-in in the winter. We have a forced-air gas furnace in our home that I keep set between 78° - 82° during the day & around 71° at night. (My husband, Jerry, lives in shorts when home, & my friends & family all know to wear layers that they can peel off when visiting.) I drink a lot of hot tea & hot water. I sleep with a towel on my head (like the nightcaps people used to wear). And none of these things really keep me warm.

The one thing that never fails to get & keep me warm is sunshine. "Hello, my name is Sandra & I am a sunshine-oholic!" If I am cold, put me in a south-facing window on a clear day & I am THRILLED!! Works EVERY time! The minute I feel that bright sunshine bathing me in it's warmth, I just feel better all over. My muscles relax, my mood improves & I get happy. I get comfortable. I get...well, warm. Like a flower, I am literally drawn to the sun. And, like a lizard or a snake, I bask in it's warmth as a means of survival. The sun is such a vital part of my health, welfare & survival that when we bought the lot to build our house, we specifically looked for one with no trees & with the back yard facing south. We even got a variance from the county based on a letter from my doctor so that we could position the house perfectly for me to get the most sun exposure in my conservatory-style (glass roof) sunroom. My desk, where I currently sit typing this blog, sits sideways beside a 6o" south-facing window under a heater vent. And when the sun shines in, no matter that it's 26° outside. I sit comfortably in 85° - 90° sunny warmth.

So, yes, I hate winter, but with good reason. But as always, I look at the bright spot. The first day of winter - the shortest day of the year - was nearly a month ago. That means the days are getting longer, spring is on it's way & warm days with it. Lord, please send it quickly!

It's Christmas Once Again

Twenty-three years ago I spent Christmas in the hospital...Shepherd Center, specifically. It was just over a month after my accident, & it was a very hard thing for me. I ADORED Christmas! I loved the decorating, the shopping, sending & receiving cards, the wrapping, the music, everything! And I was missing it. Worse yet was the fact that it was my very first Christmas spent away from home. Come to think of it, it's the ONLY Christmas I've EVER spent away from home. Oh, I've gone out visiting later in the day, but I've always awakened in my own bed...except for that one year.

At the time, I was very sad about being stuck in Shepherd for Christmas, but looking back I realize it really wasn't so bad. In fact, considering it was a hospital, everyone made it quite fun.

First, there was Richie Bear. At the time of my accident, I was working as a staffing assistant & customer service trainer at one of the Rich's department stores. Rich's was an Atlanta institution, especially at Christmas. Each year on Thanksgiving, the downtown store would have the lighting of the "Great Tree" on top of their 5-story building. They also had Santa & his reindeer & the Pink Pig - a pig-shaped train ride for kids. In 1986, Rich's introduced Richie Bear - a big, white, stuffed bear sold during the Christmas season as a charity fundraiser. As Customer Service Trainer, Richie became "my baby" for our branch, so to speak. It was my responsibility to train the sales staff on all things Richie. By the time of our Richie kick-off meeting, I was so tired of Richie that I, a (at the time) teddy bear collector, told the store manager that I never wanted to see another Richie again! So, naturally, I received FIVE of them as gifts while at Shepherd, the 1st being from the employees at my store, delivered by my aforementioned store manager. With a crooked grin on his face he said, "I know you never wanted to see him again, but we just HAD to." And those silly little bears DID cheer my room a bit.

Richie wasn't my room's only holiday touch. I received TONS of Christmas cards, which my nurses taped up all over my walls. I also got a few plants & balloons, & my stepmother's boss even sent me a decorated & lit table-top Christmas tree. They all helped make my room very Christmasy.

Throughout December we had a lot of visitors to Shepherd. They brought cookies, visited & went caroling down the halls.

On Christmas Eve, the nurses moved a cot into my room & my mom spent the night with me. That was wonderful. On Christmas morning, my sister's priest surprised us with a visit. He brought us Communion. That simple act touched my heart deeply & has always given Brother Joel a very special place in my heart.

Later, my entire (local) family came to spend Christmas together. Honestly, it was a bit surreal having my step-family & "real" family celebrating together. But there we all were - me, Mama, Daddy, my stepmother, her mother, my sister & her husband & 3 girls, my brother & his wife & stepdaughter, my 3 stepbrothers, 1 of their fiances, & my friend Mary & her boyfriend. We all gathered in the gym & they sat on the mat tables as we opened presents.

That year made such an impression on me that I even remember many of the gifts that I received. I remember thinking, "What can they possible give a quadriplegic besides sweats!?" Well, they did a pretty darn good job on creativity. My sister's family gave me a handmade teddy bear made by my sister out of an antique quilt that had been made by my mother's mother. My brother's family gave me a gold teddy bear charm for a necklace. My dad's mother - the families official "queen" of gift-giving - sent me a $50 savings bond (which I have never cashed). But the best things they all gave me were their love, their support & their presence. They will never know how much it meant to me to be surrounded by them on that difficult Christmas day.

Little did I know things were about to get even more difficult. As the day wore, on my mother started feeling bad, so my dad & stepmom followed or took her home, only to end up taking her to South Fulton Hospital. She spent a week there with heart problems, & ended up having triple-bypass surgery at Crawford Long Hospital in February . Then, on New Years Day, my dad came to visit & surprise me with a special lunch from Longhorn Steak House. He surprised me, all right, by having a heart attack as he walked through my door. Thankfully, it was mild AND, Mary & her boyfriend were with me AND we were in a hospital. (If you're gonna have a heart attack, have it in a hospital!) He spent that next week at Piedmont Hospital & St. Joseph's Hospital. Eventually, everyone turned out to be fine. We even started a family joke became that that my sister could now write a Fodor's Guide Book to Atlanta hospitals, having eaten & slept in so many!

Yes, that Christmas was a challenge, but it had what mattered most - family. Whether by blood or by love, family is what matters most at Christmas. So if you don't have a family, why not drop by your local hospital & "adopt" one. I assure you, they will be blessed, & so will you!

I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas filled with joy & love.