My Vertical Life

I have spent the past ten months sitting. The sitting involves sitting in a wheelchair or sometimes in other places but for all of that time I have either been in a lying or a sitting position. As discussion turns to braces and to the possibility that I might get around on my legs, the first question is what happens to me when I stand up. It turns out, for reasons which will be clear in a paragraph or two, that this can be a real issue.

It turns out that there is a device which allows a paralyzed person to remain and even to work in a standing position. This device is called a standing frame and is shown in the picture. Basically the device stabilizes your knees within some C shaped cushions and then pushes on your butt to raise you to a standing position. There is a work surface where your arms are enabling you to work while standing.

My physical therapist was interested in putting me in one of these devices to make sure that nothing bad happened when I stood up. This is not a trivial concern. The other patient that she put in this device, a twenty-one-year-old with a higher level of injury, saw his blood pressure drop down to 60/40. This blood pressure could be considered quite dangerous and in many people would cause them to pass out. It turns out that the patient did relatively well, perhaps because his blood pressure has been running low since the accident.

My blood pressure runs a lot higher. In fact my blood pressure tends to run too high and I take drugs to decrease. In addition, because the level of my injury is lower, a significantly smaller portion of my body is abnormal and therefore the expected effects on blood pressure are smaller. In fact, when I was put into the standing frame my blood pressure did not significantly change.

It turns out that using a standing frame can be a good thing for someone with a spinal cord injury. Merely placing weight on the bones will diminish calcium loss, a common problem spinal injury since the legs are not bearing weight. There are also supposed to be good effects on the bowel and other parts of the body although I find it difficult to explain exactly why these should be seen.

After trying it in physical therapy, I decided it was appropriate to get a standing frame and start using it on a regular basis. I bought one that has the ability to wheel it around using your hands giving you mobility in the standing position.