The Practical Paraplegic

by Sofiea Clerico
Robert Price, columnist for the Bakersfield Californian interviewed me in 2003 on the topic of wheelchairs. Recently, the column was updated and relisted on the web. The website I spoke of found an eager audience. After a year or two, the some crooks figured out a way to take advantage of what was [...]

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Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
“Retrospective review.Objective:Spinal cord injury is a known risk factor for bladder cancer. The risk of bladder cancer has been reported at 16-28 times higher than the general population. Earlier studies have identified indwelling catheters as risk factors. We examined the characteristics of bladder cancers in a spinal [...]

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by Sofiea Clerico
Flores, a paraplegic, hits the nail on the head with his questions as the national healthcare debate rages on.
It is my dream to see every American citizen receove medical treatment without regard to his/her pocketbook. One-payer health insurance would come closest to this ideal. The public option would help us come closer, at [...]

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By Sofiea Clerico
If you take a step back and look at the situation the U.S.A. finds itself in — you find a country going over the cliff because of obscenely profitable health insurance corporations. At the present rate, U. S. families are looking at health insurance premiums double those it pays today in just 10 [...]

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By Sofiea Clerico
Everyone in America has an opinion on proposed healthcare changes. Joe Wilson’s exceptional rudeness is not the way to further the debate. Today he was disciplined by the House of Representatives. The London Times takes note of the rebuke in these words:
The US House of Representatives today formally scolded a South Carolina Congressman [...]

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By Sofiea Clerico
Despite Congressman Joe Wilson’s rude behavior, there is no way illegal immigrants can receive any benefit from the public option or other provision of any of the health care bills now working their ways through Congress. Wilson’s public and erroneous tantrum notwithstanding, no health care provision for illegals. Despite language which clearly spells [...]

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by Sofiea Clerico
Congressman and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Fifth District of Maryland, held a stellar town hall meeting recently. (I watched the entire town hall on C-Span.) He listened politely and answered all questions, even while a few booed loudly. They particularly didn’t appear to like the word “Democrat.” Hoyer never gave an inch to [...]

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The longer an individual is paralyzed, the more at-risk he or she is to osteoporosis, a condition which endangers our bones. Early treatment is the key.
Older women and men with prostate cancer were tested with a new, genetically engineered drug called denosumab, made by Amgen. It will be reviewed this next week by FDA advisers. [...]

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The Republican National Committee is spreading a new falsehood to make people afraid of health care reform. Some say the lies and misinformation will get worse in September.
The Washington Post today said, “The suggestion that Republicans might be singled out and denied care is included in a “Future of American Health Care Survey” containing 13 [...]

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The following is from: “Spinal Cord Injury and the Family: A New Guide” by Michelle J. Alpert, M. D. and Saul Wisnia.
“In the 1980s another procedure, the dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) ablation , was recommended for treating severe spinal cord injury pain, since it essentially destroyed the nerve cells that were thought to be [...]

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