Doris Schultz Cowfer

Never Say Never Doris Schultz Cowfer

I was sitting in the doctor's office in 2003 when our lady in this real-life story was diagnosed with a cervical spine condition in need of surgery to ease facial and neck pain. Surgery could also restore hand numbness and stop her from constantly dropping things. Her neurologist recommended she forgo the surgery as long as she could tolerate the pain, reasoning that neck surgery had a high risk of paralysis. He added that initial surgery would impact adjacent vertebrae and require up to 5 additional future surgeries. He then shocked us suggesting something else that, hopefully, would take her life in the meantime (seriously his words). He failed to caution us that a simple fall on her face could paralyze her. We later met a patient who had the surgery because her surgeon told her a slap on the back could have paralyzed her. Our Lady had no such warning and decided to forgo surgery. In January 2006, on the way to the mailbox to get the morning paper, she bent over to deadhead a pansy, continued falling into a raised shrub bed, landing on her chin. She was paralyzed from the neck down with compression fractures including 6 vertebrae. This book documents all stages of spinal cord injury(SCI) survival. This book is her message to women suffering from Osteoarthritis and other fragile cervical spine conditions to never place themselves in a position to fall forward, God forbid should you fall. She demonstrates that there is life in a wheelchair with the power of physical and other therapies. Therapy can and will restore mobility to the extent the SCI allows. Her experience shows that the SCI patient's susceptibility and survival from life-threatening acute illnesses depend upon proper and timely medical care. Authoring this book with her and caring for and sharing 8 years of life with her in a wheelchair was the most rewarding experience of my life. Her story will give comfort to anyone experiencing such a life-changing event.