The Road Back, Almost.

On the morning of June 25, 1986 I awoke unable to move the left side of my body. I
could not wiggle a finger or toe. After months of seeing specialists it was discovered,
using a new type of medical device, that I had a one quarter centimeter block across my spinal cord. The doctors were excited that this experimental procedure, called Magnetic
Resonance Imaging, revealed my problem. I was depressed.

I was sent to a hospital therapy program to practice activities, like grabbing onto a door handle and turning it. Many of the patients were older and much worse than I, but this did not cheer me up at all. Over time I improved a little and was able to go back to work.  My boss allowed me to work with one hand and in time I learned how to use the left hand a little.

Although I have made much progress and lead a full life this spinal cord injury changed
my life forever. Because I am not in a wheel chair or confined to a bed people do not
really understand what I deal with on a daily basis.  After a few years I joined a gym.
I recall expressions of annoyance around me as I made an attempt at working out. In a
Santa Monica gym folks do not have patience for someone slowing down their routine. For the first year every time I went I thought about not going back.

One particular day I saw a trainer in a wheel chair. He told me how he was in a car
accident in Paris that took the use of his legs and he had to ask himself the same question I had asked myself a couple years before. Do I want to do life like this? When he answered yes, he decided to go all in. Although I am very willing to live my life as I am, I still have great hope for something the neurologists told me would be impossible, that one day I could be healed.

Human embryonic stem cell research is a controversial issue, with both political and
religious points of view.  No federal law has banned stem cell research in the United
States, but has placed restrictions on funding and use. Hence research is far from what
it could be.

I remember in 1995 when actor, Christopher Reeve, had a riding accident and was paralyzed from the neck down. After my initial reaction of compassion I realized a celebrity bringing media attention to this issue would be good for people like me. More money flowed in for research. Medical experts widely submit that stem cell research has the potential to dramatically alter approaches to understanding and treating diseases, and to alleviate suffering. I am convinced that if we do not try to inhibit the research there will be a cure in our life time and I can hardly wait for that day!