onest p0st!!

Hello pals! Welcome to thejlink, home for John-related news, updates and such (take two). Feel free to read as much as you want and leave commentary where you see fit. Your interaction is highly encouraged and appreciated - even if it's telling me how dumb I am or just saying hi, your comments keep me writing.

Subject material:
Of course, most of the information in these posts will be related to my medical state and progress, therapeutic activities, and other details of my health, because that stuff is interesting and the rest of my life really isn't. However, since this is not a medical blogging site and I have an extremely short attention span, I don't feel particularly obligated to stay on topic all the time. So, beware?

Me:
You (1) probably already know and (2) can find this info in the appropriate profile section, but let me pass on a few relevant details about me.

To start, here's the important part (in extremely summarized form). On 24 December 2004, I was in an automotive accident that left me with an incomplete C4-C5 spinal cord injury. Then on 11 April 2008, I underwent experimental non-embryonic stem cell spinal surgery to treat this injury. Directly after this surgery, I began physical therapy in Detroit, Michigan, for rehabilitation. This is where I am as I write this post, and it's what I'll be talking about the most.

The injury - I broke vertebrae C4-C6 in the accident, including a burst fracture of C5. The spinal cord lesion was incomplete and approximately 2.4cm in length, at the C4-C5 level. By chronic phase (several months post-injury), I achieved a score of B on the ASIA examination.

The surgery - Spinal surgery was performed in Lisbon, Portugal, approximately 3.5 years after injury. The procedure was an olfactory mucosal autograft - a transplant of stem cells from my nose to the injury site. The medical team was led by Dr. Carlos Lima of Hospital Egaz-Moniz.

The rehab - Starting 5 May 2008, I have been performing physical therapy at the Center for Spinal Cord Injury Recovery (CSCIR) in the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM), located in downtown Detroit. RIM is a part of the sprawling Detroit Medical Center (DMC). I currently live in DMC International Guest Housing, about a block away from RIM. So far, therapy has been one three hour session every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for a total of nine hours each week.

Other jlink details - I was born in 1984, and I have lived in south-central Illinois most of my life. I have two older brothers. I graduated in 2007 from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL. I majored in mathematics and minored in computer science. I am quite obviously a total nerd. I like long walks on the beach and late summer sunsets... Are you actually reading this far?? Anyway, I was a Resident Assistant at school for three years, and I loved it. I really like that kind of stuff. I'm also pretty big into anything related to music and musicians, as well as other languages and computational holism. Let's move on already.

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OK, that's all for now. Thanks so much for dropping by. I can't even pretend to convey my appreciation of your support. Keep an eye out for updates, and I hope to catch you again soon. Au rev, mes amis!