D.C. to South Philly to N.J.

Yesterday was the wrap up of the Paralysis Task Force Meetings. We went over the suggestions from the groups the day before and made further recommendations as a group to make sure we were on target. It is unbelievable to find out from these meetings how much needs to be done for the Spinal Cord Injury and Paralysis Community in order to get people what they need to survive and have a decent quality of life.

The most upsetting piece of information I heard was that when newly injured people get hurt, they are pushed out of the hospital in 17 days on average. When I was hurt I spent over 6 months in the hospital. This is unacceptable because when a person and their family's lives change in one split second, 17 days is way too short of a time for one to try to figure out how they will move ahead and try to figure out how to live. The insurance companies could not care less about the physical,emotional and mental part of what one needs to prepare for and they only care about themselves. I am sure that a lot of good will come out of these meetings and am very honored to be involved.

Once the meetings were done we headed to Philly to meet Steve Martorano's best friend Cousin Mike. He took us to all of the classic South Philly places. We went to Jim's, Tony Luke's, Cosmi's Pastries and Pop's Water Ice. From there we shot up the Jersey Turnpike and were so glad to be done with all of the long driving until we head home.