Dressing Blues
I only do nudity if it serves the storyBack in October several of the therapists at the University of Michigan’s Med Rehab put together a two-day conference for physical and occupational therapists new to dealing with spinal cord injury patients. As a distinguished alumnus of the program and one whose opinion is highly regarded in certain, small circles, I was asked to participate in a discussion panel at the end of the conference. My former occupational therapist from Med Rehab also asked me if I’d be willing to be in a video presentation dealing with the issue of dressing and undressing to be shown at the conference. I agreed.
The following video was shot at my apartment and captured me going through my entire nightly routine of undressing and getting in to bed, which as of last spring I began to do completely on my own without assistance from an aide. I’ve been told this is a rarity for someone with my level of paralysis. After we got the undressing routine recorded, my therapists asked me to demonstrate a couple dressing activities that, although I’m capable of, I don’t do independently on a day-to-day basis simply because of the time and energy it requires first thing in the morning. All told we ended up recording over a half an hour of me flopping around. Due to time constraints, the video was edited for the purposes of the conference presentation. I’ve gone back in and added the clever soundtrack selections, of course.
We didn’t clock the time it took from the start of transferring from my chair into bed, removing my shoes and socks, to the end with me removing my pants, but I think on an average night just the undressing takes twenty minutes or so. Add in the time consumed while I take my evening medication, gather up the peripheral supplies I need at bedside, then position and plug my chair into its charger, and all told the whole process of "getting ready for bed" can take 45 minutes to an hour. However, the first time I decided to get myself in bed on my own I was at it for over 2.5 hours. Such is a condition of independence.
I think what struck me as I saw this video for the first time is how feeble and uncoordinated I look doing this, but then again I don’t get dressed in front of a mirror every day so maybe in my mind’s eye I still believe I have the strapping physique and dexterity of my 25-year-old former self. I’ve also heard the camera subtracts thirty pounds of muscle, or something to that effect.
Without further ado:
Shirt Off/On (Remember all you budding videographers out there, never shoot into your light source)
Pants Off
Pants On (Not a task I frequently take on by myself, but one I get help within the morning unless I end up changing clothes during the day for some reason)
The following video was shot at my apartment and captured me going through my entire nightly routine of undressing and getting in to bed, which as of last spring I began to do completely on my own without assistance from an aide. I’ve been told this is a rarity for someone with my level of paralysis. After we got the undressing routine recorded, my therapists asked me to demonstrate a couple dressing activities that, although I’m capable of, I don’t do independently on a day-to-day basis simply because of the time and energy it requires first thing in the morning. All told we ended up recording over a half an hour of me flopping around. Due to time constraints, the video was edited for the purposes of the conference presentation. I’ve gone back in and added the clever soundtrack selections, of course.
We didn’t clock the time it took from the start of transferring from my chair into bed, removing my shoes and socks, to the end with me removing my pants, but I think on an average night just the undressing takes twenty minutes or so. Add in the time consumed while I take my evening medication, gather up the peripheral supplies I need at bedside, then position and plug my chair into its charger, and all told the whole process of "getting ready for bed" can take 45 minutes to an hour. However, the first time I decided to get myself in bed on my own I was at it for over 2.5 hours. Such is a condition of independence.
I think what struck me as I saw this video for the first time is how feeble and uncoordinated I look doing this, but then again I don’t get dressed in front of a mirror every day so maybe in my mind’s eye I still believe I have the strapping physique and dexterity of my 25-year-old former self. I’ve also heard the camera subtracts thirty pounds of muscle, or something to that effect.
Without further ado:
Shirt Off/On (Remember all you budding videographers out there, never shoot into your light source)
Pants Off
Pants On (Not a task I frequently take on by myself, but one I get help within the morning unless I end up changing clothes during the day for some reason)
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