Mason Branstrator’s work

Over the past three weeks, I’ve developed pain in my legs which quickly spiraled into excruciating nerve pain in my left leg and muscle pain in my right hamstring. In order to cope with this pain I started with CBD, then quickly moved into ibuprofen and prescribed muscle relaxers. For a couple days I was bedridden because it was too painful to sit in my wheelchair. After going to the ER to get an emergency MRI and bloodwork I was told there was nothing out of the ordinary. I had no other choice but to move on. I got back to working out more and trying all the remedies for the pain I could find online.  Among the things I have tried for my pain include, e-stim, massage, stretching, hot/cold, various oral medications, making sure I’m hydrated and eating healthy, and being active/doing things to occupy my mind. While I was researching pain management I came across this hour-long spinal cord injury pain management video from 7 years ago.  https://youtu.be/QG4SKNZOJzE   ...

  The serenity prayer. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” This to me means we shouldn't waste time worrying about things out of our control and should spend time discovering and changing what we do have control over. In my case, it does me no good to deny my accident and become frustrated and angry about what it took from me. It's true many things were taken from me, but for all the doors that closed others opened. I am grateful for all of the opportunities that have come into my life since the accident. There are certainly times when somber emotions come across my body and I simply surrender to them and let them run their course. This way I can get back to being my positive optimistic self as soon as possible.  Time management. When it comes to time management having any fancy system can end up getting in the way more than helping. I simply have a checklist on my phone where...

  Dear mom,   I truly will never understand the magnitude of the many lives you have affected but I can understand how you’ve affected me. When I was just a wee boy you always encouraged me to share my feelings, thoughts, and experiences. At some times I questioned how open I had become but now I realize learning how to be vulnerable has shaped me into the emotionally aware young man I am today.  I am grateful for many things the accident brought into my life but, on the top of that list is the extra time we get to spend together. If it weren’t for the accident I’d probably be off doing silly high school things with silly high schoolers, but instead, I get to spend quality time with one of my favorite humans.  I know I always say this, but your ability to love me unconditionally is truly unbelievable. You are patient with me, always excepting of me, and most of all always there for me. You teach me every day how to love unconditionally so that one day I can do the sa...

Let me know if we have the same vibe! It all started when I was a little kid listening to my dad's van Morrison and Niel diamond CDs in the car. I remember jamming out to Real Real Gone by Van Morrison when I was still in preschool. When I got a little older my grandmother bought me a speaker and after setting it up I blasted all the songs I knew, Forever in blue jeans, Brown Eyed girl, sweet Caroline, and Moondance were among some of my favorites.  Eventually, I got my an iPhone and started to explore a little bit, I stumbled into Electric dance music or EDM.  I played a lot of mobile video games including geometry dash which I think had something to do with my discovery of NCS or  No Copyright Sounds  which was my  favorite artist in that genre.  At the time I was buying songs with iTunes gift cards. I pretty much listened to the same 100 songs over and over again. Other than NCS some other songs I listened to were    O oh Ahh by Grits, Roses by...

Me with my dude Blake. Over the course of the past year, I have had to take  my care  into my own hands. Although as you are about to find out I’ve been guided by the best physical therapists in the world. My first therapist was assigned to me during my inpatient stay at Craig. His name was Eric and he helped me in more ways than his job called for. He comforted me, laughed with me, and most importantly believed in me. He saw my potential and sent me to work with the best therapist at Craig. Her name was Kara and as I have come to find out she has the biggest heart and truly wants what’s best for me. She pushes me out of my comfort zone and doesn’t ever let me take the easy way out.  Unfortunately, we soon discovered one hour of therapy with Kara each day would not be enough to reach my goals. As a replacement for the copious amounts of inpatient therapies, we signed up for sessions in the peak center in Craig hospital. I didn’t feel like the sessions were conducive to my...