Local Gal Gets Paralyzed, Makes Good

A whole new world opened up for me on August 26. I am now a person with a spinal cord injury on an adventure! Over the past three weeks I had surgery and moved on to rehab, then to ‘nobody knows where.’ Right now I’m almost completely numb and paralyzed below the waist.
There are worse things than being almost totally paralyzed below the waist — lots worse. Each day I prepare for what to say when people ask how I am. Yesterday it was, “I’m so excited! This might have been the best thing that ever happened to me!” I can almost hear the unspoken thoughts from people who wonder, “How so?”
Well, for one thing, now I can have a dog again. After my last pet passed away I decided not to get another one because of the uncertainty of being able to care for it. Now I can get an ‘assistance dog’ that has been trained to help disabled people.
Then there’s a career as a “sit-up comic” focusing on helping everyone to feel more comfortable around disabled folks. Of course, I will keep on singing. My second career began at age 61 when I joined Red Malone’s “Rascals.” We have done a lot of shows at health care facilities and senior residential homes.
I can design a health record system that makes it easy for anybody to keep track of their prescriptions and important papers easily. I will make it available free of charge.
I can also write about ways patients and caregivers can work better together.
Anyway, I have a lot of things to do with my remaining time. I will continue to make this life worthwhile and fun.
Kathleen McQuilling retired from UCSC after 24 years as an Administrative Assistant in the Vice Chancellor’s offices and has been on the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz County Amateur Radio Club since 2005