The Citizen, 2019-06-20, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2019. PAGE 9.
Continued from page 8
do it, which shouldn’t have mattered
anyway. There is a point at which
more physical activity is detrimental
to your body. It’s just a matter of
learning to read the signs.
KNOW WHEN TO TAKE A NAP
When I first had kids, other
mothers would always tell me to
sleep while my kids were napping,
but who ever listened to that advice?
It was the most productive time of
the day, the time when you could get
all the things done that you couldn’t
do when your baby was up! Well,
now my body is my baby because I
am still recovering. The problem is
that my head is still my head and it’s
constantly full of things to do. There
is a never-ending list that scrolls
constantly and crossing something
off only adds three more things.
Tell yourself that it is okay to nap.
Everything will stay the way it was;
things that need to get done (like
dinner) will eventually (either by
you a little bit later, or by someone
else) or they won’t, but in the end it
will be okay. So just do it. Pull back
the covers (if you even made the
bed) and crawl in, or pull a blanket
over yourself on the couch. But give
yourself permission, because it’s
okay. And you will thank yourself
later.
PUT YOURSELF FIRST
You have to be your own advocate
because no one else will do it for
you. Somewhere in the past three
years, I had a conversation that made
me realize that I am in the driver’s
seat. Don’t let people just shuffle
you along, fitting you into all the
little tick boxes on their clipboard.
It’s not easy to do. Put yourself and
your needs first by being firm and
speaking up. Ask for what you want
and need. When I went to the
hospital suspecting an infection
(because blood in urine is not
normal) I was turned away. They
said, “Your urine dipped negative, so
you do not have an infection”. It’s
my body. No one knows it better
than me. Please listen, because it is
speaking loud and clear.
MY PEEPS
The best way I know to lift up my
spirits and quiet my mind is to spend
time with my people, who I
affectionately call “my peeps”. I
always go away feeling whole again,
reaffirmed that what I am doing,
thinking and where I am going
makes sense. Because that is what
your people do for you. Who are
your people? I guess in technical
terms, it would be called Peer
Support and who they are depends
on where you are in life.
Peer support may be the other
parents in your baby group or they
may be the people you work with.
For me, my people are fellow SCI
survivors. When you sustain a spinal
cord injury, the body changes in
ways that you can’t even imagine. In
simple terms, it just stops working.
It’s not about just not being able to
walk. When everything is so messed
up, it is reassuring to talk to others
who are dealing with the same
issues. It’s an instant bond. You can
meet someone and within the hour
you will be talking about your
bladder and bowels. Everything is
on the table, even sex. These are not
conversations you would normally
have with strangers.
Hangin’ with my peeps gives us
time to compare notes and laugh
about things that are just plain crazy
to anyone else. When I was in rehab,
I had a visit from a friend of a friend
who was the captain of the Team
Canada wheelchair rugby team.
He’d been injured more than 20
years earlier, and at a higher level
(C-spine). I watched with awe as he
transferred out of his wheelchair into
a regular chair. He told me about the
business he ran, his travels, about
driving and what it had been like to
be in rehab 20 years ago. Like a little
kid, I asked if I could wear his
Paralympic medals around my neck.
He gave me hope.
That’s why you need to find your
people. Realizing you are not alone
is sometimes all you need to keep
going. It helps to hear that someone
had a bowel accident worse than
yours, what the tricks are to getting a
front row seat on an airplane and
how to travel safely with your
wheelchair.
I leave you with this… Find your
people and share your story. Put
yourself first and just do it. Trust
your gut and know when to take a
nap. Forgiveness is a practice, but
remember that you need to cut
yourself some slack. When all is in
chaos, wash the dishes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR JULIE
SAWCHUK
They say that life changes in the
blink of an eye and that you never
see it coming. There is no better way
to describe what happened to Julie
Sawchuk. Hit by a car in 2015, she
sustained a spinal cord injury that
caused permanent paralysis. Julie
knows better than most that recovery
is hard and how far you get depends
on how hard you work.
She writes from a place that is part
of her own emotional therapy, but
mostly because she wants to share
what she has learned along the
way.
Julie, a former high school
teacher, is now an accessibility
strategist. Julie is currently writing a
book for Spinal Cord Injury Ontario
to create “Road map to recovery - a
guide for spinal cord injury
recovery” and her next writing
project will be about building a
wheelchair accessible home. Julie
lives in rural Southwestern Ontario
with her husband Theo and their two
kids.
Connect with Julie Sawchuk at
http://juliesawchuk.ca/blog
Continued from page 1
that, in the Sparlings’ opinion, the
fire department’s responsibilities
and ability to meet those
responsibilities was a top priority.
Also during the Monday night
meeting, North Huron Council
approved $6,300 to remove the
electronics behind a sophisticated
piece of fire training equipment
from the ESTC grounds.
The Burn Training Equipment, as
well as containers that house burn
simulations, are to be removed by
Pro-Safe Fire Training Systems, the
company that originally installed the
equipment.
Once removed, the equipment will
be inspected to see if the physical
components of the system are still
viable, or if they need to be replaced
before being reinstalled in the area.
Representatives from the Fire
Department of North Huron said the
equipment would be stored until it
could be located at a new training
site for the department.
Sawchuk looks to her ‘peeps’ when she needs a lift
Finding grace
Whether it was through Dancing with the Stars with Les
Cook, above, or a number of other recovery steps, Blyth’s
Julie Sawchuk has come a long way in the years since she
was injured – a journey she’s been forthcoming about to
one and all. (Photo courtesy of Devin Sturgeon)
Extension granted
541 Turnberry St., Brussels
519-887-9114
405 Queen St., Blyth
519-523-4792 The Citizen
’Tis the Season for Outdoor FUN
A PADDLER’S GUIDE TO
ONTARIO’S LOST CANOE
ROUTES
For canoe adventurers who
want to explore less-known
routes, this book offers 15
trips in northern and eastern
Ontario. Lots of colour photos
let you preview the trip.
Includes 21 maps. $19.95
A PADDLER’S GUIDE TO
WEEKEND WILDERNESS
ADVENTURES IN SOUTHERN
ONTARIO
You don’t have to travel north to have
happy adventures on the water.
They’re as close as the Beaver River
or the Bruce Peninsula. $19.95
PADDLING AND HIKING THE
GEORGIAN BAY COAST
Kas Stone circles the Georgian Bay
with suggested canoe routes and
hikes: 38 chapters, 250 pages of
trips to explore on the north, east,
south and west shores – including
many in Bruce and Grey. $29.95
A CAMPER'S GUIDE
TO ONTARIO'S BEST
PARKS
From national and
provincial parks to
conservation areas,
Donna Carpenter runs
down the attractions of
48 parks across Ontario.
$19.95
THE BACKYARD
LUMBERJACK
Whether harvesting
firewood or cutting
timber, cutting trees
can be an important
farm task. This book
provides the ultimate
guide to felling,
bucking, splitting and
stacking wood. Tips to keep you safe and save you
time. $28.95
THE BEAUTY AND BOUNTY OF
HURON COUNTY
Stunning photographs by 3 Huron
County photographers, including
Brussels’ David Bishop, show Huron
County as you’ve never seen it with
aerial shots, wildlife, landscapes,
nature. $40.00
THE BIRD WATCHING ANSWER BOOK
This handy guide from Laura Erickson of
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides
everything you need to know to enjoy birds
in your backyard or beyond – from
migration patterns to strange bird habits to
birds’ vision. $18.95
Great books available at...
Drop by our office in
Blyth or Brussels and
check out our wonderful
selection of books. We
have books for all ages.
541 Turnberry St., Brussels
519-887-9114
413 Queen St., Blyth
519-523-4792