Welcome!
I’ve never blogged or done anything of this sort before, so please forgive me! My name is Ashley and I caregive for my boyfriend, Dave, full time. Here’s a bit about how we got here, and why I’m going to take a whack at this:
In September 2017 my boyfriend became a C4-5-6 quadriplegic. This meant that he was essentially paralyzed from the chest down. Also, his hands and triceps would no longer function. Our lives changed forever in that moment. We knew that this wouldn’t be the end — I mean, we were only 27 years old — things were just going to be a little different and we’d have to find our ‘new norm.’
Nobody could have fully prepared us for such a drastic change, and with this type of injury there is no “best way” to do things. Even doctors and therapists have had to guess a few times before finding a solution. We quickly discovered that it really comes down to what works best for you.
Since then, my boyfriend and I have had to get pretty creative. It’s truly been fun coming up with new inventions and adaptations to make both of our lives a little bit easier. There are a million ways to write a letter, use a phone or computer, eat with a fork, bathe… you name it! Sometimes I look online for some inspiration, but usually we’re solving problems as they come up! Most often, we use whatever we can find around the house to create a “quick fix,” then improve it as time goes by. Most of our gadgets are Version 3.0 or higher!
One night we were up late talking, and realized our little inventions might be useful for others with his injury and our (very low) income level. My goodness, products being advertised to the disabled can be so expensive!! We’ve decided to share our creations online with other quads, their families, caregivers, and fiends. If any of our ideas can help even one person, we’ll be so happy knowing we’ve done some good in the world!
Adaptability enforces creativity, and creativity is adaptability.
— Pearl Zhu