South Carolina Resources
Resources for South Carolinians recovering from Spinal Cord Injuries or Traumatic Brain Injuries and their family members.
Recently I have spoken with a number of families in South Carolina who are dealing with the new realities that come after a catastrophic injury. The determination everyone shows to gaining access to the best possible care is always impressive as they leave no stone unturned. For some that means a trip to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA while others have been discharged home and are seeking the best of the best local caretakers. While the dedication to helping family and friends is not unique to South Carolina it does seem to be a little stronger than it may be in other areas around the country.
These conversations are all a little bit different since every injury and the individual situation is different, but a few themes tend to emerge depending on how long it has been since the injury has taken place. After answering very specific questions or referring people to our blog on that subject, I am often asked about the recovery options (legal, physical, and emotional) available moving forward. Each of these subjects is important, below I have included information and links to help those of you whom I have not yet had the opportunity to speak with.
As you may know SpinalCord.com is sponsored by the law firm Swope, Rodante P.A. with a national reputation for assisting families after a member has sustained a catastrophic injury. They are specifically known by other attorneys for handling complex and difficult cases which other firms do not have the ability or capacity to bring to trial. This reputation attracts cases from the best attorneys in the country, and of importance to South Carolinians attracts the best attorneys in South Carolina who want to work with them. Over the years I have been able to personally work closely with Swope, Rodante and our SpinalCord.com community members to determine what recovery options may be available. To learn more about our sponsor I encourage you to visit their website and watch videos which describe how the firm started and results they have obtained for other families. If you would like to investigate whether you or your loved one may have a path to a legal recovery just call me at 877-336-7192
In some respect the individual and family have more control over the physical recovery, and overall health, than a legal recovery or emotional recovery. Depending on the exact nature of the injury (level and complete/incomplete) the physical recovery will be greatly impacted by how hard the individual works and their commitment to healthy living. While there are no specific Activity Based Therapy centers in South Carolina, the Roper Rehabilitation Hospital is one stop site for care and provides physical therapy. If you happen to live in the northern area of the state within driving distance of Charlotte, NC you may want to call Race to Walk and schedule a visit to determine whether that facility is a good fit. For those of you who are looking to combine work and fun I would be remiss if I didn’t mention NextStep Orlando, where I sit on the Board of Directors. This facility is located just outside Orlando and accepts clients from around the world who come to workout while their families enjoy the theme parks! One last item to point out regarding the physical recovery, many of you ask me about stem cell therapy and other new therapies being developed. While stem cell therapy offers a great deal of promise for the future, it isn’t the immediate cure many media reports suggest. There are many Spinal Cord Injury Trials currently ongoing in the field and I would strongly recommend using the website scitrials.org to find those you may qualify for.
The emotional impact of a catastrophic injury is nearly immeasurable from getting through the phases of grief to learning how to communicate to you partner everyone has questions. We have done our best to provide information (not always answers) in our blog with hundreds of original articles, I recommend if there is a topic you are interested in learning about utilize the search function located at the top of our website. Of course, anyone can search for articles online or talk to people via social media groups, but sometimes (I think most times) that isn’t enough. Fortunately the South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Association has you covered with a number of peer support groups. Some of you may be thinking “support groups aren’t for me” and I understand that, but even if you aren’t ready to discuss the emotional impact an injury has had there is much more to these groups. When connecting with others who have similar experiences as you there is the opportunity to learn from the path others have taken. Often individuals and family members feel alone, no one in their social group has experienced anything like what they are going through, unfortunately many people have and are going through this experience. So whether it is finding a local urologist with experience battling UTI’s or a reliable contractor to help with home modifications you may be more likely to find what you are looking for in a support group than an online search. (Keep I mind this is coming from someone who manages a large website dedicate to providing information to people online!)
Finally, the South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Association is an excellent resource for any South Carolinians in the SCI community to connect with. They do much more than host support groups and I encourage all of you to reach out to them. If you need help, they are there for you. If you don’t need help, you may be able to give back to the community and help lift someone else up.
I hope you find this information helpful, if there is anything I should have included but did not, or if you have questions please feel free to reach out to me directly at 877-336-7192 or vincentd@spinalcord.com .
Sincerely,
Vinny Dolan
Are you or someone you know suffering
from a catastrophic injury?
For more than 30 years, the team at Swope, Rodante P.A. have taken on some of the most challenging spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases — recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for their clients. Because their team is selective about which cases they take on, they can dedicate more time and energy to providing clients with first-class treatment. You are someone that they take the time to get to know and are not simply a case number.
