Alive-versary Year 7
It takes seven years for the human body to replace every cell that it has (with some exceptions). Aside from the tattoo ink that was punched underneath my skin and the memories that were planted in my brain, I am an entirely new human. Every single cell that makes up this paralyzed body of mine has known just that… paralysis. Gone are the cells that made up healthy 23 year old Josh, and good riddance. It takes a resilience to maintain a paralyzed body and those cells were not ready for what was to come; so the body did its thing… it adapted. Whether I wanted it to or not, my body adapted. Year 6 was tough, I’m not going to lie to you. I navigated secondary conditions from this spinal cord injury for as long as I could but the pain started to dull my quality of life and I was tired. Tired of pain and insecurity. Tired of brave faces when all I wanted to do was cry. It was time for a change. I met with an incredible surgeon and we discussed options to treat my neurogenic bowel. Ugh...