Speaker A [00:00:02]:
Welcome to the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast, where changing your eating habits is the key to losing weight, improving bowel health, and feeling your best. I’m your host, Fatima Fakouri. I’m a registered dietitian who’s married to a quadriplegic and specializes in nutrition for paralysis. Get ready to be inspired, educated, and motivated so you can take control of your health using the power of food. Let’s get started. This is the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Paralysis Nutrition Podcast. Today I have Paralysis Nutrition group coaching member Caroline.
Speaker A [00:00:37]:
Welcome, Caroline.
Speaker B [00:00:39]:
Hello.
Speaker A [00:00:40]:
So, Caroline, tell us a little bit about why you joined the coaching program.
Speaker B [00:00:46]:
Well, I joined because I was following you on Instagram and you were talking about how nutrition is so important with dealing with, like, skin and pressure sores. And I was like, that’s me, because I’ve had this pressure sore for two years now, and it was not just a little pressure sore. And I had two of them on my feet, so just one on each foot that I could not get rid of. And I had been to two different doctors for two years, and they weren’t getting any better, so I figured, why not try the nutrition? So.
Speaker A [00:01:29]:
So what stage were they?
Speaker B [00:01:31]:
They were stage three.
Speaker A [00:01:33]:
Stage three. And so for anyone who doesn’t know, wounds start at a stage one, then they go to two, they go to three, they go to four, and it can actually get even worse than that. And so stage three is pretty serious. Right. And so I want to sort of backtrack a little bit too, and just say, I don’t ever really talk about skin and pressure sores on social media. It’s like it occasionally comes up, I feel like. And, you know, you’re in the program, it’s like the big focus is really bowel health, constipation, bloating, you know, weight loss, of course. And you don’t really have.
Speaker A [00:02:13]:
I mean, you don’t have weight to lose and your bowels are okay. But I think that it’s super interesting how things work out. Like, the day you were listening or seeing me on Social, I was talking about that because it’s not really a focus of the program, but pressure sores are really up there in terms of the things that can happen to you with a spinal cord injury that can really affect your life.
Speaker B [00:02:40]:
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A [00:02:41]:
So how do you think it was for those two years? Like, I know you told me every week you went to wound care.
Speaker B [00:02:47]:
Yes, I went to wound care every week. And I mean, they really. When I would go to the doctor, they would Go and measure my wound and take notes. And we would try, like, lots of different things under the sun. We tried, you know, different medications and different, like, false skins and different, I mean, everything.
Speaker A [00:03:11]:
And really ointments or topical things.
Speaker B [00:03:15]:
Yeah. And, you know, the doctors were just, like, throwing things at it and not really giving me any advice. I don’t. They didn’t really know.
Speaker A [00:03:24]:
So now I know how this story ends. But tell the listeners. You had a stage. You had two stage three pressure sores for two years. And then when you joined the program, I remember you started tracking your meals and to see, you know, how many calories are you getting, how many, you know, grams of protein are you getting, whatever. And you’re a petite person, so you don’t need a ton. But I remember you were getting something like 40 grams of protein a day.
Speaker B [00:03:55]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:03:56]:
And that’s actually not enough for you without a pressure sore. Like, for somebody of your height and weight, I would say, like, at least 60 grams. For you with no pressure sore, you need 60. And so for probably a couple of years, you were under eating protein, and that’s why your wound wouldn’t heal. So once you joined and you started tracking. Oh, boy. We did the math and it was like 100 something grams. Because you have a stage three pressure sore.
Speaker B [00:04:31]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:04:32]:
And once you started doing that, what happened?
Speaker B [00:04:35]:
So immediately they started getting smaller. And even when I was going to wound care, still once a week, they were saying, oh, wow, like, I’ve never seen a wound get this much smaller, like, so quickly. And that was even before they were all the way closed. And I mean, I think that they closed in about a month.
Speaker A [00:04:57]:
A month. Two years of a pressure sore. And if you had. I mean, hindsight’s 20 20, right?
Speaker B [00:05:05]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:05:05]:
But I. Caroline, I can’t imagine how you feel. I feel a certain kind of way about you. And I know that your mom was involved as well, going to wound care once a week for two years and not seeing progress. And then in one month, your wounds closed.
Speaker B [00:05:25]:
Yeah. And now you kind of want to, like, block it all out because it’s traumatic to think all the hours spent in the hospital and at the doctor’s office for them looking at your wounds and not giving you really any advice, and the advice that you’re giving wasn’t helpful.
Speaker A [00:05:45]:
What advice did they give you? I’m curious.
Speaker B [00:05:48]:
Well, I mean, other than just the different topical things. And they were trying to say to stay off, you know, make sure that I wasn’t getting any other pressure. They were saying for Me to eat more protein. But that was the extent of it, was just eat more protein.
Speaker A [00:06:09]:
And so how did you interpret that? Because this is what I hear a lot, is that people with pressure sores, you know, all I do is, you know, this is a group program. Like, I’m not doing this, like, individual nutrition plan for you because that’s considered clinical. I’m sharing with you in a group setting the, you know, you could Google it. Like it’s out there, the recommendations for grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So what really confuses me is like, why can’t doctors do that? Because this is. I will tell you as a dietitian, and you know, we all have training in clinical nutrition. We have no training in spinal cord injury, paralysis, neurogenic bowel. But I’ll give you, I’ll give them one thing.
Speaker A [00:07:00]:
They teach you a lot about pressure sores. And so it’s shocking to me that the one really useful thing that I took away, I mean, you know, being a dietitian who works only with paralysis, a lot of the stuff that I learned in school is not. It’s, I mean, it’s all good, but it’s not like so specific to my community. But the pressure sore thing is so to me, it’s like, why can’t doctors be like, okay, she weighs 120 pounds. Divide that by 2.2, get your weight in kilograms, multiply that by whatever the number is per kilograms of body weight that you need of grams of protein. Ta da. Like, it’s really literally divide and, and multiply. That’s it.
Speaker A [00:07:48]:
So I don’t understand why they’re not telling you how many grams, but I am glad that they told you to eat more protein. But how did you interpret that? Because when you joined the program and I shared with you like the guidelines, right? And I share that with everybody in the group. It’s like, this is part of the education, right? Like, this is how many grams of protein you need. And then you go and do your thing. Then you started tracking and you said, oh, I’m drink, I’m eating like 40. So when you hear from the doctor, I’m sure I don’t know when, but probably in the way beginning they told you to eat more protein. How did you interpret.
Speaker B [00:08:23]:
No, that wasn’t in the way beginning. That was a year in. Was a year in.
Speaker A [00:08:28]:
Okay.
Speaker B [00:08:29]:
No, that wasn’t eat more protein was not part of the original. And like me, I mean, I had no nutrition background at all. I had no idea. So. Right.
Speaker A [00:08:41]:
Because it’s really vague. It’s really vague.
Speaker B [00:08:44]:
So vague.
Speaker A [00:08:45]:
So vague.
Speaker B [00:08:46]:
And I know foods that do have protein in them. So I’m like, okay, well, I guess I’ll plan on having more chicken or for dinner. I didn’t know.
Speaker A [00:08:59]:
You don’t know what you don’t know, Right.
Speaker B [00:09:01]:
I didn’t know how much I was eating, and I didn’t know how much more I needed to eat or what. I didn’t know really what that meant. And they weren’t really. No one was telling me, you know, Right?
Speaker A [00:09:14]:
No. And I understand. And you are not the only one. Right. A lot of people who have pressure sores, they are told at wound care eat more protein. I’m really surprised that you weren’t given something like, juvenile or like some sort of supplement. So juvenile is a wound care supplement that we have here in the States. And it’s like, it’s got, you know, things in it.
Speaker A [00:09:38]:
It’s a supplement, right? And it’s kind of like an all in one. And so it helps kind of build your skin back, helps you heal. And it’s like very common knowledge that it’s really good for wounds. And yet the wound care people didn’t give you that, which is really surprising. And they. And did they ever give you a referral for a dietitian? Any, like a handout? Can I get a handout on high protein foods?
Speaker B [00:10:07]:
No. And even when you’re talking about Juven, even you said that one time during the meeting about Juven. And I called my doctor’s office and whoever I talked to, the nurse or whatever, I said, you know, do you think Juven is a good idea? And they’re like, oh, yeah, that might be a good idea. And it’s like, well, how come I have to be the one to suggest it?
Speaker A [00:10:35]:
Like, that’s just. Ugh. That is just no wonder you want to block it, right? Like, you’re happy that it’s healed. I’m so happy that it’s healed. But I also, being a healthcare provider, sometimes I’m just like, why is this happening? Why do all these people with wounds not get nutrition advice? Because I’ll tell you this, I worked in a hospital for a short stint of time, and if somebody had a pressure sore in the hospital, say you were admitted, and you were admitted for, I don’t know, something totally unrelated. But you had a pressure sore. You were like, high, high on our list of priorities as the dietitian, kind of like team. So it was like, there’s different levels of risk and so the people who have any sort of pressure sore are considered, like, a priority.
Speaker A [00:11:31]:
So we get there right away, and we recommend how much protein, and that’s a clinical setting. But what’s shocking is, like, all of your wound care stuff, right? It was outpatient, so it was, like, probably wound care clinic and things like that. You would think that they would have a dietitian, like, in the office.
Speaker B [00:11:50]:
Well, and I even went to two different doctors, because after a year, I was like, I’ll try somewhere else. I mean, neither doctor that wasn’t even on their radar was a dietitian.
Speaker A [00:12:06]:
Yeah. I will say a lot of wound care places do have them, but not all. Obviously not all. You went to two different ones, and they didn’t have them. So now that you’re healed, how does that feel and how does it affect, you know, your life?
Speaker B [00:12:25]:
Well, I mean, feels great that I don’t have to worry about that anymore. But also, I mean, having the pressure sores that were open, really, I mean, I kind of had to work around that with my weeks and even, you know, every day, having to dress them and, you know, not being able to do certain things. And even it was even two summers of not being able to get in the pool or. Which isn’t, like, that big of a deal, but.
Speaker A [00:12:59]:
No, it is. It is. It is. You. I mean, you live in a warm place, right? You have access to a pool. Everyone’s in the pool. You’re a quad. It’s hot outside.
Speaker A [00:13:10]:
You can get dysreflexic. We want to put you in the pool, Caroline. Geez. Oh, my God. I just feel so, like. I feel like calling, Like, I don’t even know what to say. It’s, like, public service announcement. Wound care centers need to give you.
Speaker A [00:13:29]:
I mean, at the very least, can we get a poster on the wall, you know, with, like, hey, do you have. You know, you’ve been in the doctor’s office. You know those silly posters that they have? Can we get a poster on the wall? Maybe I’ll make one. Put a poster on the wall. You could literally Google.
Speaker B [00:13:46]:
You make it, and I’ll get.
Speaker A [00:13:49]:
How many grams per kilogram of body weight do you need for each stage of a wound? Like, stage one, you need a little more than, you know, you would normally need because you have a stage one sore. Stage two, it goes a bit higher. Stage three, higher than that. Stage four, higher than that. And there’s also supplements. Right. So we’re talking about Juven. But also, there’s, like, Arginine and there’s.
Speaker A [00:14:16]:
What do you call vitamin C? There’s zinc, there’s collagen. There’s different supplements, you know, that you can take. And not to mention things like vitamin D, like, regular things that your body might be getting depleted because you have this pressure sore. And, you know, we were talking a lot about protein and supplements, also calories. Okay. If you have a pressure sore, you need more calories based on your weight. So again, it’s like simple math. And like I said, you can Google it.
Speaker A [00:14:51]:
It’s out there, you know? And did they ever tell you. So they did tell you to eat more protein after a year. After a year. But better late than never. They did tell you to eat more protein. Did they ever tell you that you need to eat more calories because your body is in a catabolic state? Like, it is burning a lot of energy to try and heal that wound. And so you need protein to build back the skin, but you also need extra calories because your body is doing so much work.
Speaker B [00:15:22]:
No, we never talked about calories or supplements, so.
Speaker A [00:15:28]:
And when you started the program, you were eating how many meals per day?
Speaker B [00:15:32]:
Probably two.
Speaker A [00:15:34]:
Yeah.
Speaker B [00:15:35]:
Every now and then I’d get three in there.
Speaker A [00:15:37]:
And now, you know, it is pretty much impossible to get as much protein you need, especially for stage three. You know, first stage three wound. It is really impossible to get all of the protein and the calories that you need unless you’re eating three meals. Like, at least three meals.
Speaker B [00:16:00]:
It was tough to get it with three meals.
Speaker A [00:16:01]:
I know. Because first of all, you’re. You’re used to, unfortunately, undereating.
Speaker B [00:16:06]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:16:06]:
Because you did. You were under eating. You were under eating Caroline for yourself without a pressure sore.
Speaker B [00:16:13]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:16:13]:
Right. So then on top of it, it was like you need to eat not just adequate, you know, it’s not like you need to go up 20, 30 grams. It’s like you needed to more than double your protein intake because you were only at, like, 40 grams. So I know you couldn’t. Some days it just didn’t happen. Right. And it’s just so hard. I remember you were on vacation, too.
Speaker B [00:16:40]:
That was tough. We packed, like, protein bars, and I was very conscious about what I was eating. Trying to get some salmon or something that was a little bit higher protein while I was on vacation. But even when I was home making a smoothie and, like, putting protein powder and all the things, I was still struggling to get as much as I needed.
Speaker A [00:17:10]:
Because it’s a lot.
Speaker B [00:17:12]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:17:13]:
Like 100 grams of protein is A lot. Especially for someone who’s petite and doesn’t typically eat three meals a day.
Speaker B [00:17:23]:
Right.
Speaker A [00:17:23]:
So if you’re used to it. And now I, you know, I talk a lot about bowel health and stuff, and it’s an unfortunate thing because what happens to your bowels when you go from 40 grams to 100 grams? I already know what happens. But tell. Tell us your experience.
Speaker B [00:17:37]:
Yeah, I mean, I was super bloated for a while, and it made it really hard to go to the bathroom.
Speaker A [00:17:46]:
Yep.
Speaker B [00:17:46]:
And really, I had never had any trouble going. And then. So I almost. Because I had never had trouble going, I really wasn’t worried about it. And then once I started eating all the protein, I was like, wait a minute. This is.
Speaker A [00:18:02]:
It’s constipating. Yeah, it’s constipating. And also, like, this is what’s so hard about people with paralysis when they have a pressure sore. So you have to prioritize the wound like you. There’s just no other way around it. Right. Like, in terms of acuity and seriousness, the pressure sore is top of the list. So this is sort of an unfortunate thing, but this is the reality, is that when you increase protein and you’re petite, you.
Speaker A [00:18:34]:
For a stage three wound, 100 grams is not all that high because most people don’t weigh what you weigh. Right. You’re very petite. So when we did the math for a stage three sore for you, it was a hundred, a little higher than that. But you getting 100 fixed the sore and messed up your bowels for a while. Sorry to laugh. I just hate to say that because it’s like, all this podcast is like, poop easy with paralysis. And I’m like, here’s Caroline.
Speaker A [00:19:03]:
I made her really constipated, but it’s like, what can I do? So much protein. And I will say this. When you are focused on one thing, and that thing is really, really important, like healing a sore, it’s like, how can you also get, like, the gut healthy foods? Like, that’s not easy. And I remember we sort of. We were kind of had one foot in each camp, Right. We had one foot in the. Or, like one and a half feet. Right in the.
Speaker A [00:19:32]:
Because it’s so important. Nothing else more matters, right, Than healing the sword. And so we had a lot of our attention was going towards that cause, but then it was also like, oh, my God. And I knew it was going to happen because it happens to everybody when they start eating. The super high protein for the sore is that you can really get Constipated and bloated. And so on a typical week, you do go to the bathroom every day, right? You do, right? So did you feel like then you couldn’t.
Speaker B [00:20:05]:
I tried to go every day, and some days it just wasn’t.
Speaker A [00:20:10]:
And it just wasn’t right. And you. We had checked all the other boxes, too. Like you were getting enough fluid. I don’t remember exactly the fiber situation, but I know that, yeah, I was.
Speaker B [00:20:23]:
Getting enough fiber, but it just wasn’t in the car.
Speaker A [00:20:27]:
You were backed up. Because it’s just a lot of food and calories. And so I would say this. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker B [00:20:36]:
All right. I was just going to say there were some days where I was, like, so bloated that I was like, I just take the pressure sore. This sucks.
Speaker A [00:20:46]:
It’s bad.
Speaker B [00:20:47]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:20:48]:
How long do you think that lasted? We’re going to keep it real today because the stage three pressure sore for two years is a big deal. And your bloating, though, was so bad that you were like, I’ll take the sore. You were dealing with it for two years. So, I mean.
Speaker B [00:21:02]:
But if you think that it only took a month for it to heal. So really, I was only like that for, like, two weeks.
Speaker A [00:21:10]:
All right, I’ll take that.
Speaker B [00:21:12]:
Yeah, I’ll take that.
Speaker A [00:21:12]:
But it must have been really bad. It must have been really bad for you to say in the grand scheme of things.
Speaker B [00:21:20]:
It really wasn’t that bad because it was only two weeks.
Speaker A [00:21:24]:
Two weeks. And then do you feel like once. And of course, once the skin closed, we went down on the protein.
Speaker B [00:21:32]:
Yes, yes.
Speaker A [00:21:33]:
It’s a means to an end. Right. We’re not like, we’re not doing anything that’s unnecessary. And I remember we went down slower. I think you would have wanted. And she was like, can I just go to 60? I’m like, no, ma’am. 80. Like, you need to do 80.
Speaker A [00:21:49]:
Because it’s still there. It’s still there. Just because it’s closed doesn’t mean, you know, like, we gained so much ground in that month. I mean, I was. I really was shocked. It’s been a couple months now since it’s healed, or at least several weeks. So it’s like. It just felt like, how could this happen? And listen, this is what I do for a living.
Speaker A [00:22:09]:
And still I’m surprised. Still I’m surprised because it’s just, wow, food is really powerful.
Speaker B [00:22:15]:
It is. Yeah.
Speaker A [00:22:17]:
And so how are the bowels now? Now that you’re down to. Yeah. Now that you’re down to A normal amount of protein. And I got to tell you, I don’t know. Well, I think you do know. There’s another client, Chris, who has, like, he had a stage four pressure sore for a long time. His tool gem. And they went down to stage three, but he’s like 100.
Speaker A [00:22:37]:
I don’t know, 160 pounds or something. So imagine how much protein he needs.
Speaker B [00:22:44]:
I can.
Speaker A [00:22:45]:
For a stage three. So he’s the same. He has his stage four. We’re down to a stage three now because before he was. Because of the bowel program, he was going like twice a week or something or going three times a week. And then he wouldn’t eat all weekend because he didn’t want to do a bowel program. So he was like, oh, I won’t really eat on the weekend. And that’s why his wound kept getting worse, is because he wasn’t eating enough protein.
Speaker A [00:23:11]:
Five days a week, he wasn’t eating enough protein, but two days a week, he was barely eating at all. And so it’s like, I. And I knew this was going to happen to him, too, is that once he goes up to the amount of protein that he needs, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Right. And so what is your advice now? We have a lot of people who listen to this podcast who have a spinal cord injury. Maybe some of them even have a pressure sore that they’ve been dealing with for a while. Don’t you think it’s wild? I have to tell you, it’s wild to me. Even when you said so nonchalantly because you’re just so used to it, it’s just something you’ve gotten used to.
Speaker A [00:23:50]:
It’s like, oh, and I have a pressure sore. It’s like, oh, by the way, I have a pressure sore. I’m like, oh, you do? It’s like. It’s like, yeah. I’m like, what stage? I don’t know. It’s like, okay, for how long? Two and a half years. I’m like, oh, my God. It’s just.
Speaker A [00:24:09]:
People have gotten, I think, like, resigned in a way of, like. I have it. It’s been years. It’s here.
Speaker B [00:24:18]:
Yeah. For sure. I think that. I don’t know. I had no idea how long it was going to last. And it really wasn’t getting any better. It was just kind of. It would get smaller and then it would stall out, and then it might get bigger, and then it just.
Speaker B [00:24:35]:
I don’t know. I was just like, well, I guess this is cool. Yeah.
Speaker A [00:24:39]:
Oh, I guess this is my life now. No, it’s not. It’s not. Right? It’s not your life because it’s gone.
Speaker B [00:24:45]:
Yep, it’s gone.
Speaker A [00:24:47]:
It’s gone. So what is your advice or your words for anyone who has a pressure sore right now and it’s not really healing well?
Speaker B [00:24:57]:
My advice would be to really just pay attention to how much, like, the nutrition is important. And like you said, you know, you can Google what I mean, I don’t.
Speaker A [00:25:09]:
Usually tell people to Google their health information, but compared to what people are hearing, I would care. I shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s just so preposterous to me that the thing that we were taught in like my master’s program, the one thing that really is just so, so serious is pressure sores. You know, you can get septic, you can get osteomyelitis, you can lose limbs. This is not a joke. Right. And the way that the wound care people, it’s like mostly doctors and nurses, right? Guess what? They’re not trained in nutrition, so they use what they have in their arsenal, right? And that’s medicine. And that’s like physical kind of advice. Like, hey, you know, put this on it, put that on it, don’t put pressure on it.
Speaker A [00:25:59]:
All of this is good. Oh, you know what? I’ve even heard hyperbaric oxygen. I’ve heard of that as a really good thing for wound healing as well. So they have all this cool stuff, but there’s nobody there telling you that your body will never, I don’t care what technology, what kind of hocus pocus hoopla that they have for wound healing. You’re not going to heal unless you eat enough protein and that, you know, this could save people hours and hours of their life and years and years of living with, you know, this pressure sore, which could go from bad to worse, you know, in a couple hours if you sleep on it the wrong way. If you do, you know, and even.
Speaker B [00:26:43]:
You think about with nutrition, you’re like, oh, well, duh. Like, nutrition helps your body, like internally, like with going to the bathroom or with feeling a certain way. But I mean, I didn’t even think about with nutrition helping like, with externally.
Speaker A [00:26:59]:
Where that’s actually a really, really good point because what I wanted to say earlier, and I totally forgot, wound healing is an immune function. This is an immune function. It is. Yes. A physical thing because it’s manifesting itself, like on the outside, right? Because it’s. It’s a physical, it’s an outside thing.
Speaker B [00:27:20]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:27:21]:
But when your body is trying to heal a wound, it’s an immune response. So that’s why I mentioned, like, vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D, these things help build up your immune system. Right. And so I just think, yeah, so many people are like, duh, Nutrition, of course it’s important, but they don’t realize, you know, when it comes to, like, the wound healing in particular, I got to say, I focus on weight loss and I focus on bowel health in this program and on social media and all of that. But if you ask me in terms of my community, right, like the paralysis community, the SCI community, what is the most powerful function of nutrition, like, for this community? I would say wound healing. It’s not my area of, you know, expertise. It’s really not. I just don’t.
Speaker A [00:28:17]:
I don’t even talk about it. I don’t even talk about it because it’s like, it’s actually considered medical nutrition therapy, which is really, like, a touchy thing. And I don’t do medical nutrition therapy. I do nutrition education. Right. So it varies state by state. Like, if you were in New York state, I could sit down with you one on one and we could do, like, whatever. I don’t do that anymore.
Speaker A [00:28:38]:
I have this group program that is really just education. So literally, if I had given you, Caroline, a handout that said, here you do the math, which is basically what my modules are, right? It’s like, here, do the math. And then it’s like, here’s a list of high protein foods. Why don’t you go track your meals and see what it is. It’s not a lot, you know, it’s not a lot of work to do. So I would like to see these wound care clinics kind of step up and say, hey, maybe we could Google it and print out two pieces of paper, make a bunch of copies and give them to people. Like, I’ll take that. The poster is asking a lot.
Speaker A [00:29:17]:
The poster. You know, those are usually sponsored by some pharmaceutical company. Hey, maybe we could get Juven. You need to make some posters and sponsors, stick them in these wound care clinics.
Speaker B [00:29:29]:
That’s insane. It really is.
Speaker A [00:29:32]:
So what do you. What does your husband say? What does mom say about the skin? Are they happy? I’m sure they’re.
Speaker B [00:29:37]:
Oh, yeah, they’re thrilled. And so my mom was having to take me to wound care, and so that was really taking from her life as well. Yeah. And they are all thrilled that they don’t have to do, like, dressing anymore. And so.
Speaker A [00:29:54]:
And you are a quad, so it’s like, they have to help you with these things. And so, I mean, I don’t want to speak for you, but does it feel a little more like. I don’t know, I feel. Yeah. Like, normal. Like, it may be just you get a bit of your independence back. Right. In that.
Speaker B [00:30:11]:
Sure.
Speaker A [00:30:11]:
In that realm. Right. Like, my husband is also a quad, and it’s like I help him what he needs help with, but everything else, you know, he’ll do on his own. And it’s like anything that you can kind of stop doing is always just. It’s. It’s stress. Right? Everything is.
Speaker B [00:30:30]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:30:31]:
And I’m sure they were really on top of it, too. Like, no one’s going to bed or no one’s leaving the house until things are. Until you’re situated. Right. Now, Caroline, I have one last kind of silly question, but I’ve been thinking. Are you able to wear shoes again?
Speaker B [00:30:47]:
Yes and no.
Speaker A [00:30:50]:
Okay. Because I remember you told me I haven’t worn shoes.
Speaker B [00:30:54]:
Yeah. So, yes, because my wounds are healed, and so obviously I can put shoes on. But no, because my swelling has not gone down yet.
Speaker A [00:31:10]:
Oh, I see. I see.
Speaker B [00:31:12]:
They were, like, so swollen that it’s, like, gone down some, but it’s still a little.
Speaker A [00:31:19]:
It’s going to take some time.
Speaker B [00:31:21]:
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker A [00:31:22]:
Yeah. And do they tell you anything? I mean, I told you, for swelling, like, you got to put your feet up and you got to make sure that you’re drinking enough water. And I know that you’re doing those things, but did they give you any advice on that?
Speaker B [00:31:35]:
Oh, definitely not.
Speaker A [00:31:39]:
We have been like savages this episode. I feel like we’re horrible. And also, I will say this, if anyone is listening, it’s all true. Yeah, it’s all true. You know me. It’s always the truth. But what I think is interesting is that. Listen, people, me and Caroline were not laughing two months ago.
Speaker A [00:31:58]:
No, we were not laughing when the wounds were still there. And that you were kind of. I don’t want. I mean, I don’t want to say upset, but you were kind of, like, struggling with getting all that protein, like, talking about what to put in the smoothie. And, like, this was work. So I don’t want people to think, like, ha, ha, she increased her protein and everything with just peachy people. She’s healed, and she’s been healed for several weeks. We have not, you know, had a chance to touch base, like, in this kind of setting.
Speaker A [00:32:34]:
So. So that’s why we’re. We’re laughing, because we’re happy. But this was serious business. Right. And for years, I think you had just sort of gotten used to it.
Speaker B [00:32:44]:
Yeah, definitely. And maybe we laughed so we wouldn’t cry.
Speaker A [00:32:50]:
Right? Isn’t that it, too? I gotta tell you, the pool thing is, that made me sad because I don’t think you ever shared that before. Like, not being able to go in the pool for two years.
Speaker B [00:32:59]:
Right. And I live in South Georgia, so.
Speaker A [00:33:03]:
It’S like, I mean, it’s hot.
Speaker B [00:33:05]:
It’s at least 75 degrees for 11 months of the year, so.
Speaker A [00:33:10]:
Right. And also, I think just when you said, I guess this is my life now, that’s. That made me sad too.
Speaker B [00:33:19]:
Yeah.
Speaker A [00:33:19]:
Because I just think that with bowel issues, with weight issues, those things. I don’t know, though. I mean, they’re important, right? They’re super, super important. They tend to not be, like, life threatening. Like, let’s not mince words. A pressure sore is considered life threatening. You can get septic, you can get an infection, you can get a bone infection. This is very, very serious.
Speaker A [00:33:46]:
And so when I say this all the time, like, the mental burden that this community deals with when it comes to, like, I don’t want to say invisible health issues, but sort of. Right. Like, not everyone in the world knows that you had two pressure sores on your feet. Like, that’s just probably not something that you tell everyone in the world, but, like, you’re sort of silently living with that. And I know how it is with bowels. Right? Like, literally, you were in the group. Like, literally everyone has bowel issues and nobody talks about them because who wants, you know, who wants to talk about that?
Speaker B [00:34:21]:
Yeah. Nobody.
Speaker A [00:34:22]:
Nobody. And you just sort of deal with it on your own and it’s kind of unspoken, Right? And so the good news is that you have come out on the other side. You are no longer going to wound care. You healed those wounds and your bowels are back to normal now. They’re back to normal. And I think that’s just. It’s an unfortunate kind of complication that happens when you increase your protein by so much. But like you said, two weeks of feeling bloated.
Speaker A [00:34:53]:
I’ll take that over two years, two plus years of living with the pressure sores. Right. And so that’s our episode for today. Thank you so much, Caroline, for being so open and honest talking about this, you know, this issue that you dealt with for so many years. And I’m sure that people who are listening are going to be motivated and inspired by your success. So thank you so much.
Speaker B [00:35:19]:
Well, thanks for having me and hopefully that helps someone listening.
Speaker A [00:35:23]:
I hope so. All right, take care. Until next time. That’s our episode for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned something new. Remember, if you want to lose weight with paralysis, improve your bowel health and feel your best you can. It’s possible, you just have to change your eating habits.
Speaker A [00:35:41]:
If you need inspiration on how to get started, check out the paralysis Nutrition Cookbook 101 Recipes to Help you lose weight and improve bowel health. The cookbook comes with a bonus 30 day meal plan and is the perfect way to start eating healthier. You can find it online at paralysisnutrition.com cookbook I’ll talk to you again soon.
