So as many of you know I lost my dad in November. It was a hard loss for me. Prior to that loss I was spending a lot of time at my mum and dads doing what my dad couldn't and also to spend what time I could with him before he left us due to his illness.
I enjoyed wrenching in the garage on family vehicles while we chatted and also tinkering with stuff with him while he sat in his chair and would supervise in between nodding off.
It was a good time that made the most of the time we had left together and in that time I feel like my dad departed the last bit of wisdom and strength mechanisms onto me.
Then the day came and he was called back to his maker and I felt like a piece of me was ripped from me and it left a big hole.
I kept on moving forward, but keeping him top of mind and trying to follow in his footsteps. It has been tough to say the least as I'm sure all family losses are but especially with losing such an amazing person as my father but I was coping with it quite well thanks to him.
Then in March I slipped on some ice in my driveway while clearing snow and as a result of that injury I ended up in hospital. I had emergency surgery right away but I suffered extensive damage to my spinal cord and I'm now a paraplegic.
I have had a successive surgery since then to correct further damage but I still have not been able to regain feeling or function of my legs below the knees and my hips are quite weak. I have no balance due to this and can't stand unaided.
It has also affected my bowel function (luckily I have partial control) but I've lost complete control of my bladder and have a permanent catheter just below my belly button.
Technically I need a wheel chair but I've been able through a lot of hard work at Physio and through the use of AFO Splints strapped to my legs and the use of a walker that I can bare weight on, I'm able to walk short distances of 20-30ft at a time on flat level floors.
As you can imagine having just lost my father and now dealing with being a paraplegic it has been quite the crushing time in my life but it has also been an amazing challenge to learn to walk again despite having no feeling or control of my legs and I know my dad would be there telling me not to give up despite having my world turned upside down.
As you can imagine its not easy adapting to this new way of life with so many complications it creates for daily life and not to mention the financial aspect and all its related costs like medical equipment needed and house modifications etc.
Despite all that I thought I would have spiraled into a deep depression that could have led to doing something that wasn't reversible because all of this in the last 7 months was just so overwhelming, but for whatever reason I feel inspired by the challenges ahead of me despite them being so hard on so many levels.
I feel like I need to do this and do it well to be able to live up to the level that my dad encouraged me to be in my life. I feel like he gave me all the tools throughout my life to accomplish such a monumental task.
I also think he must be pulling string of sorts from wherever he is today because I really can't explain the overwhelming sense of calm and positivity I feel since this has happened.
I was always one to get anxious of things and have always struggled with much smaller life events ahead of me in the past let alone something as huge as this and it isn't phasing me anywhere near what I think it should be.
Anyway I just wanted to share this on Fathers day and to wish all the great Fathers out there a Happy Fathers Day today.
Keep being the amazing Fathers you are. You are the reason why sons like me can keep moving forward despite the monumental challenges in life we might face.
I could never ever have gotten this far without my amazing father and all of his teachings, tools and wisdom he gave me.
I'm eternally grateful for it all and know that he's proud of the man I've become and continue to develop into and I can't wait to meet up with him again some day and see what he thinks of this challenge I'm facing now and how I got through it, because Im confident I will thanks to him.
Happy Fathers Day everyone!
Steve
I enjoyed wrenching in the garage on family vehicles while we chatted and also tinkering with stuff with him while he sat in his chair and would supervise in between nodding off.
It was a good time that made the most of the time we had left together and in that time I feel like my dad departed the last bit of wisdom and strength mechanisms onto me.
Then the day came and he was called back to his maker and I felt like a piece of me was ripped from me and it left a big hole.
I kept on moving forward, but keeping him top of mind and trying to follow in his footsteps. It has been tough to say the least as I'm sure all family losses are but especially with losing such an amazing person as my father but I was coping with it quite well thanks to him.
Then in March I slipped on some ice in my driveway while clearing snow and as a result of that injury I ended up in hospital. I had emergency surgery right away but I suffered extensive damage to my spinal cord and I'm now a paraplegic.
I have had a successive surgery since then to correct further damage but I still have not been able to regain feeling or function of my legs below the knees and my hips are quite weak. I have no balance due to this and can't stand unaided.
It has also affected my bowel function (luckily I have partial control) but I've lost complete control of my bladder and have a permanent catheter just below my belly button.
Technically I need a wheel chair but I've been able through a lot of hard work at Physio and through the use of AFO Splints strapped to my legs and the use of a walker that I can bare weight on, I'm able to walk short distances of 20-30ft at a time on flat level floors.
As you can imagine having just lost my father and now dealing with being a paraplegic it has been quite the crushing time in my life but it has also been an amazing challenge to learn to walk again despite having no feeling or control of my legs and I know my dad would be there telling me not to give up despite having my world turned upside down.
As you can imagine its not easy adapting to this new way of life with so many complications it creates for daily life and not to mention the financial aspect and all its related costs like medical equipment needed and house modifications etc.
Despite all that I thought I would have spiraled into a deep depression that could have led to doing something that wasn't reversible because all of this in the last 7 months was just so overwhelming, but for whatever reason I feel inspired by the challenges ahead of me despite them being so hard on so many levels.
I feel like I need to do this and do it well to be able to live up to the level that my dad encouraged me to be in my life. I feel like he gave me all the tools throughout my life to accomplish such a monumental task.
I also think he must be pulling string of sorts from wherever he is today because I really can't explain the overwhelming sense of calm and positivity I feel since this has happened.
I was always one to get anxious of things and have always struggled with much smaller life events ahead of me in the past let alone something as huge as this and it isn't phasing me anywhere near what I think it should be.
Anyway I just wanted to share this on Fathers day and to wish all the great Fathers out there a Happy Fathers Day today.
Keep being the amazing Fathers you are. You are the reason why sons like me can keep moving forward despite the monumental challenges in life we might face.
I could never ever have gotten this far without my amazing father and all of his teachings, tools and wisdom he gave me.
I'm eternally grateful for it all and know that he's proud of the man I've become and continue to develop into and I can't wait to meet up with him again some day and see what he thinks of this challenge I'm facing now and how I got through it, because Im confident I will thanks to him.
Happy Fathers Day everyone!
Steve
