{"id":60747,"date":"2022-11-17T10:42:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T10:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/?page_id=60747"},"modified":"2022-12-01T11:25:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T11:25:24","slug":"bg22-tinadavid","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/bg22-tinadavid\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Give Christmas Challenge 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tina &amp; David&#039;s Story -  #TheBigGive2022\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KGxLmLdUljM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn_solid accent_red\" href=\"https:\/\/donate.thebiggive.org.uk\/campaign\/a056900002JskQpAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Double your donation here<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"intro\">Help families devastated by spinal cord injury rebuild their lives<\/p>\n<p>My name\u2019s Tina. My lovely Dad, David, was a fit, active 83-year-old. Laying decking, directing traffic at Scouts\u2019 fundraisers, president of the local classic car club.<\/p>\n<p>When he started feeling a bit under the weather, he took himself off to hospital for some tests, as independent and upbeat as ever.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What happened next turned our world upside down<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Dad was diagnosed with myeloma \u2013 a type of blood cancer that develops from plasma cells in the bone marrow. His kidneys were failing \u2013 his bones increasingly fragile.<\/p>\n<p>He was discharged in a wheelchair, with NOTHING for his spinal cord injury.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You can help make sure no family is left alone when spinal cord injury strikes. <a href=\"https:\/\/donate.thebiggive.org.uk\/campaign\/a056900002JskQpAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DOUBLE your donation<\/a> between 29 November &#8211; 6 December on Spinal Injuries Association\u2019s Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign page. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When someone you love comes home with a spinal cord injury, it can feel a bit like being handed a new-born baby. That same huge sense of responsibility. The same overwhelming fear you\u2019ll do something wrong. Except, as a parent, you\u2019ve got family, friends, books you can refer to. You know where to go for help. We were lost \u2013 had no idea where to turn to help our Dad.<\/p>\n<p>He was suicidal \u2013 on a cocktail of chemo drugs, feeling sick and desperate. I was in meltdown. Every day, district nurses, social workers, hospice staff \u2013 the house was like Piccadilly Circus. But no-one had an overview. No-one seemed able to tie everything together \u2013 so nothing got any better.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa \u2013 on SIA\u2019s support line\u00a0\u2013 was my first port of call. She was, quite literally, a lifesaver.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa referred us to our local support coordinator<u>,<\/u> Gareth. It was such a relief to hear him say \u201cI\u2019ve got an injury very much like your Dad\u2019s\u201d. And to see that he was living his life.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I was spilling my guts to Gareth. Everything I mentioned \u2013 catheter, pressure ulcers, wheelchair, mental health \u2013 he said yes, SIA can help with that<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Just \u00a320 could pay towards life-<\/strong><strong>practical advice and a positive insight into life after injury from someone who\u2019s been there. \u00a0Donate now to DOUBLE your donation through SIA&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/donate.thebiggive.org.uk\/campaign\/a056900002JskQpAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign page<\/u>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was spilling my guts to Gareth. Everything I mentioned \u2013 catheter, pressure ulcers, wheelchair, mental health \u2013 he said yes, SIA can help with that. Can you imagine the relief as I reeled off my long list of worries and fears \u2013 and he checked off each one?<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t know what I didn\u2019t know SIA filled in those blanks.<\/p>\n<p>Dad had to go back into hospital with suspected septicaemia. With help from SIA\u2019s clinical specialists, we\u2019d made an <a href=\"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/ecp-booking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emergency care plan<\/a>. It\u2019s just a paper form, downloaded from SIA\u2019s website, but it contains all the information about injury, his medication, the risks of autonomic dysreflexia (AD) and skin damage. And I can\u2019t tell you the peace of mind I got from handing it to the paramedics who picked him up that night. The feedback from A&amp;E was \u2013 \u201cthis is brilliant\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Could you give \u00a320 to pay for a spinal cord injury clinical specialist session? Your gift could save someone\u2019s life with a personal or emergency care plan <\/strong><strong>like David\u2019s.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn_solid accent_red\" href=\"https:\/\/donate.thebiggive.org.uk\/campaign\/a056900002JskQpAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Double your donation today<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I attended one of SIA\u2019s virtual cafes, my little grandson asleep while I joined the Zoom call. I was the only person not in a wheelchair, but I was made so welcome. It was a lovely feeling \u2013 everyone sharing their thoughts and ideas. A sense of hope and real community. Dad was in a dark place at the time, so depressed.<\/p>\n<p>He desperately needed counselling. He\u2019d been diagnosed with cancer, sustained a spinal cord injury, and then he lost his wife to cancer. At one point we had paramedics stationed outside the house because he was suicidal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your \u00a320 could pay towards professional counselling for people learning to live with spinal cord injury. <a href=\"https:\/\/donate.thebiggive.org.uk\/campaign\/a056900002JskQpAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Make your gift worth TWICE as much<\/u> <\/a><\/strong><strong>when you donate before Tuesday 6 December.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But the GP couldn\u2019t get him counselling \u2013 and neither could the hospice. There were waiting lists everywhere. Thankfully Ian, who\u2019s spinal cord injured himself and leads <a href=\"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/get-support\/mind-matters\/telephone-counselling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SIA\u2019s professional counselling service<\/a>, was able to help. Having no control over his bowels was one of the biggest issues for Dad. Being able to talk about this with someone who truly understood made such a difference to him. And then Damian, one of SIA\u2019s clinical specialists, spent time with Dad trying to help him establish a bowel routine.<\/p>\n<p>SIA\u2019s advocacy team showed me how to make the strongest case for Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding, then supported us through the process, attending meetings and really fighting Dad\u2019s corner. As a direct result, Dad has 24-hour care now. And SIA has helped us offer his carers specialist training \u2013 not just in spinal cord injury care \u2013 but also end-of-life care for someone with a spinal cord injury.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Could you give \u00a320 to help another family get the care they need to help a loved one rebuild their life after a spinal cord injury?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn_solid accent_red\" href=\"https:\/\/donate.thebiggive.org.uk\/campaign\/a056900002JskQpAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Donate now and your gift will DOUBLE in value<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Proper care can make such a difference to quality of life when there\u2019s limited precious time left. Please help other families like mine rebuild their lives together after spinal cord injury.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/donate.thebiggive.org.uk\/campaign\/a056900002JskQpAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>Donate now through our Big Give Christmas Challenge page to DOUBLE YOUR DONATION.<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We know times are tough for everyone right now, and we\u2019re especially grateful for anything you can spare in the run up to Christmas. The Big Give is a great way to make your generous gift go further \u2013 <strong>THANK YOU SO MUCH<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Double your donation here Help families devastated by spinal cord injury rebuild their lives My name\u2019s Tina. My lovely Dad,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":739,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/739"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60747"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60883,"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60747\/revisions\/60883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/armanios.co.uk\/dev\/sia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}