I am lucky enough to have a hospital that is very familiar with quadriplegics. However, if I go outside of the spinal cord wing it is a battle to make sure that things get done correctly.
Over the last eight years I have ended up in the ICU twice and on one of those occasions it was much worse than being on the normal floor. They had no idea how to do quad coughs. Of course, my spinal cord floor wasn't much better at the time. If I am able to stay home I try my best to do so. At least I know my brother and sister-in-law can take care of most of my breathing problems, but I have worn them out in the past. Now I'm lucky that my hospital has a wing devoted to ventilator patient and the personnel there are very familiar with quadriplegics who have respiratory difficulties. As I read all of your experiences I just shake my head in absolute disgust about how archaic our medical system is. And the sad part is we are much better than the majority of the world. At least that's what I think. Quadius
