Bare Necessities

The ring of skin at the level of my injury (T10) is always hypersensitive. The nerves are crossed, confused, or just figuring things out. It hurts to wear clothing, to bathe, and to sleep with sheets at night. I usually sleep in the buff because underwear is just a travesty to get on and wearing shirts gets annoying. (side note: I always have a set of clothes on the bed in case of emergencies.) They get bunched up behind me or just twisted around the skin. On top of that I have to worry about creases in my skin from clothing because they as well can cause pressure sores. I don't feel it if the clothing is pinching me or if it's not fitting correctly from my belly button, down so I've got to be on top of it all the time.

When I lived on my own, I did like most bachelors/bachelorettes would do. I would walk around and sleep in my underwear. Hey, if you got a place of your own and you feel comfortable in your skibbies, I say, run free! I frequently felt hot (I guess being overweight didn't help. lol) and so I liked to wear little to nothing at home. I even slept in my undies. While being at the hospital many things caused irregular temperature patterns, be it infections or my body adjusting to the stress of all of the physical change and/or shock. In the ICU I was known as "the flasher" because I would reach temperatures upwards towards 102 F consistently and throw off my covers and gown. I was notorious for just laying the gown on me instead of wearing it. I would lie there naked with tons of ice packs and cold towels during the most uncomfortable bouts of fever. A lot of nurses attempted to cover me up, but I would fight them and explain to them that if they, or the Dr.s, had not seen a human body, then they shouldn't be working there. As a compromise, I agreed to draw the curtains so that other passer-byers wouldn't freak out. Like they'd never seen a naked body. Do people shower with their eyes closed? lol. Ugh, clothing, actually.....ugh, pain. It sucks.