The next phase for Congresswoman Gifford's rehabilitation will come at TIRR in Houston. This senseless shooting and killings in Tucson has shocked our nation. It is cause for alarm that such violence can become a way of life in our great country. The reasons vary and are complex, but they should bring us to rethink, as a people, what could be happening and what can be done.
She is coming to TIRR in Houston. That is The Institute of Rehabilitation And Research. They treat persons with a range of disabilities from brain injuries , stroke, spinal cord, multiple trauma and amputation, to rehab for MS, Parkinson's, arthritis and lupus. They are among the top five hospitals in the country for this kind of help.
I was a patient there in the mid-seventies following an accident at Glorieta Baptist Encampment in the winter with a group of young people from Wharton. After three surgeries, hyperbaric oxygen sessions, and other experimental events I was finally sent to TIRR to see if they could help. I was to be a patient with them for two or three weeks. After a couple of days I decided I wanted to go back to Wharton. It was not that my condition had improved....I could not stay there as one able to walk about the hospital and be among those with every kind of trauma imaginable. There were young people injured in car accidents and sports who could never leave those chairs. There were some who obviously had little hope, from even the best therapy. That setting, among so many who were so much worse off than me, was a bit of a curative for my pain. I decided I could make it somehow, and be thankful each day for what I could do, rather than complain about what I could not do. Being at TIRR was a giant step in my road back to living with a bit of discomfort. As this cold front bears down on us the old injury is hurting. I will take some Tylenol and go on, being grateful to God (and TIRR) for helping me see others with far more difficult circumstances than mine.
