Following two major surgeries, not eating for 5 days, being massively dehydrated, in incredible amounts of pain, throwing up, low blood pressure, tubes running everywhere in and out of his body, beepers going off all through the night with equipment, nightmares about being "beaten on the back of my neck by people", gasping for air at night because he can't turn his body, Carson was officially introduced to the street fighting world of rehabilitation today. He is in the fight of his life and just watching the process was difficult. His rehabilitation team operates their craft with a mild pace of urgency, tempo fairly high, and expectations even higher. I can see why people don't like rehabilitation. It is difficult. It hurts. It results in levels of discouragement and despair for many, and if done right, will likely be the most trying and challenging thing of a person's life with this type of injury. The team plucked Carson from his bed via a lift and harness, and placed him into a motorized wheel chair where he was taken to a lower floor to be introduced to the rehabilitation "gym." They placed him on a table and had him sit upright to begin the process of knowing how to balance using his arms only, since he cannot currently utilize any muscle group below his upper chest. To appreciate this, try and totally relax all your core muscles that you use to sit up and balance, and then just use your arms to bear all the weight and keep from falling to the front or rear. No balancing with legs or any other muscle group beside your arm strength. It should be hard....and it was.
Before his injury, Carson had requested a painting of Christ walking on the water by the artist Julius Sergius von Klever as a Christmas present. He loved this particular rendition because of the theme, and also the aesthetics of the painting which depicts Christ defying the turbulent waves, head slightly down, silhouetted against a setting sun. Now, in the context of his injury, this same painting that sits in his room takes on an entirely new meaning.
Stephen Tueller
