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Margarita Elizondo

Comfort Conversations: How Does Giving Help Defeat the Holiday Blues?

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Feelings of sadness are different for everyone as is each individual’s reaction to those emotions. Sorrow during the holidays can stem from preexisting factors like pain, stress, or financial problems, but can also be heightened by feelings of loneliness or unrealistic expectations to buy gifts. Over-commercialization of the holiday can exacerbate symptoms and make them even harder to defeat.

According to Medicine.net, sadness or depression at holiday time can be a reaction to the stresses and demands of the season. In other cases, people may feel depressed during the winter months due to a condition known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also referred to as seasonal depression.

How Does Helping Others Help Ourselves?

People who suffer from depression often struggle with finding their purpose in life or feel they simply lack one. I was lucky to discover my purpose very quickly after my injury. While in outpatient rehabilitation a few months after being released from the hospital, I realized that resources and peer support for newly injured SCI patients were nearly non-existent. This, coupled with my newfound faith, prompted me to start a faith-based peer support ministry, Blessed with Life, and begin sharing my story. Every time I told my story, it felt like a part of me grew stronger, and every time I helped someone new with resources and peer support, their accomplishments became my accomplishments.

How to Give Money if You Don’t Have Much to Give?

When we talk about giving, people tend to think about money first. Financial donations are, after all, the easiest and most convenient way to help others. If you don’t have much money to give, you can also get involved with fundraisers for a local nonprofit. I am always creating fun ways to get active in the community by eating out, bowling, playing pool, or participating in a sport while raising funds for my nonprofit, Rolling With Me. These events help get others in my situation active and involved while raising funds for a great cause.

How Do You Give Back When You Feel You Have Nothing to Give?

Living with limited financial resources or physical ability is no excuse for not being able to give because giving doesn’t always have to involve money. Volunteering for a nonprofit organization, school, church, or library is a great way to meet new people and even open doors to potential employment opportunities. Volunteering keeps you active and involved, and those types of entities are always in need of extra help. It’s also awesome knowing you’re needed and appreciated.

How Do You Find Ways to Get Involved?

A great place to start is by asking yourself which causes you are passionate about and what you enjoy doing. After you answer those questions, you can then look for related organizations or businesses. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, that’s a perfect reason to start a program of your own. You can also propose your idea to an existing organization and partner with them. Another option is to get involved with a peer support group. Being around other people with similar challenges is empowering. You can lean on each other for help and grow the programs you’re interested in. The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation has a peer support directory so you can find a program near you!

If we let them, the holiday blues can be more paralyzing than our actual loss of mobility, and once those feelings start to spiral, they can be very difficult to overcome without professional help. I have struggled with depression my entire life and have even survived several suicide attempts pre- and post-injury. Today, it has been over five years since I have had any of those negative thoughts, primarily because I began to see how much my life impacted others in a positive way through all of my community involvement. I now embrace and feel empowered by the gratitude and joy I bring others.

If you’re experiencing the holiday blues or are battling depression and thoughts of suicide, please reach out to someone. There is no reason for you to feel lonely or be alone this holiday. Wheel:Life values and cares about you. Happy Holidays!

Have a question for Our Comfort Ambassador? Let us know! Contact us here.

Or, find a peer support group near you using our helpful reference guide!

Comfort Conversations: Anyone Can Dance!

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Join us every other month for Comfort Conversations, a discussion series led by our Ambassadors who share their thoughts on issues affecting wheelchair users worldwide. Today’s topic is, Anyone Can Dance, written by Comfort Medical and Wheel:Life Ambassador Margarita Elizondo.  Learn more about the Comfort Ambassadors here.

Dance is a therapeutic form of exercise and artistic expression and is great not only for physical health but also for mental and emotional health. It is something I believe anyone can do, regardless of ability, age, or background.

Music alone can be very powerful. It can affect our mood and our state of well-being by triggering memories and stirring up the emotions associated with them.

Just listening to a song from our past can evoke a memory and transform our entire mood.

Many religions use music as a form of worship because they feel it can elevate their spirits to a different realm connecting them with God.

When dance, or any movement, is set to music, it can create a stress-relieving, joyful, and sometimes healing moment for those involved, as well as release endorphins in the brain. The result is a beautiful storytelling sequence lead by music and fueled by emotion. That is something that can be created by anyone, no matter their physical ability or age.

How Did I Start Dancing?

Coming from a Latino family, dance has always been a part of my everyday life.

I was not a disciplined dancer, but I grew up choreographing my own routines and competing with other kids on the block. My parents had eight kids, so sending us all to dance school was not going to happen. Instead, I became the neighborhood dance teacher. Every chance I got, I taught people how to dance cumbia, salsa, corridos, and banda, and I helped friends choreograph routines for their quinceañeras. Later on, when my daughters got into cheerleading, I even coached their squads. I guess I would say I’m a self-taught, street-smart dancer.

Who Has Been My Biggest Inspiration?  

After my injury, I thought I would never dance again. In fact, I would cry anytime I heard music playing. It was not until I saw videos of wheelchair dancers Auti Angel and Briana Walker that I discovered I can dance to! I first tried from home and began simply by learning to enjoy music again. I would listen to the sound and allow my body to feel the emotions the song was portraying. Then, I began adding little movements according to my body’s ability.

A short time later, I got involved with San Diego Wheelchair Dancers and quickly realized the possibilities were endless. There, I learned how to do my Latino heritage dance moves all over again, this time from my chair, and with an able-bodied person as a partner.

As I progressed, I was introduced to the technique of storytelling through expressive dance by choreographer Tam Warner. This form of dance has been by far the most therapeutic I have ever experienced. The music selection is filled with emotions and translated into contemporary dance movements. Since I got back into dancing, the various movements and stretches have helped bring back some of the range of motion I lost with my spinal cord injury, and my arms have developed more tone and strength.

5 Reasons Why Dance is Therapeutic:

  1. It gives people the ability to express emotions.
  2. It’s a natural stress reliever.
  3. It increases physical fitness and aids gross motor skill development.
  4. It’s a confidence and self-esteem booster.
  5. It encourages creativity and imagination.

Where Will I Dance Next?

I am so blessed to celebrate 12 years since my spinal cord injury. In that honor, I am hosting a Celebrate Life Cocktail Party on Thursday, June 21, 2018, and will showcase a new performance thanking my family and friends for their love and support over the years.

That’s not all! On Friday, June 29, 2018, at noon, you can catch me center stage teaching a workshop at the Chicago Abilities Expo!

Get Ready for Rolling With Me’s Each By Name Conference

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Wheel:Life, Comfort Medical, and Rolling With Me is excited to announce that Comfort Medical will be sponsoring Rolling With Me’s Second Annual “Each By Name,” conference. This conference informs, engages, and empowers women of all abilities. Each By Name is Hosted by La Mesa Church of Christ in La Mesa, California, and is organized by Margarita Elizondo, CEO and Founder of Rolling With Me, and Mendy McClure a professor at SDSU who teaches a GS420 course, Disability and Society. Margarita also serves as one of the Wheel:Life ambassadors, where she contributes to Comfort Conversations.

Coming to you on November 11, 2017!

The focus of the conference is to empower women of all abilities to be strong leaders and advocates in the community, while at the same time encourage inclusion on college campuses, community clubs, activities, and events. The ways they do this is by including able-bodied leaders to participate in the logistics of the conference as volunteers, and be participants of the conference themselves. This gives women of all abilities the opportunity to learn from each other and the opportunity to create a network of resources and peer support.  Each By Name teaches the following:

  • Inclusion
  • Advocacy skills
  • Leadership skills
  • Self-esteem building
  • Adaptive sports skills
  • Faith as a foundation

Margarita Elizondo has dedicated the following poem to the conference.  This poem embraces the powerful message of this inclusive conference. It is also a perfect message for our country right now and should be spread worldwide.

Each By Name

You are not black, white, or brown

You are not lame, retarded, handicapped, or disabled.

You are not the size of your bank account.

You are not the “N” word and you definitely do not deserve to be enslaved, deported, or locked away simply because you are different.

You are not defined by the color of your skin, your seen or unseen limitations, the size of your clothes, or your sexual preference.

You are not a label.

You are not a statistic, a stereotype, or a racial slur.

You are not what society has defined you as nor what that negative voice in the back of your mind echoing your childhood bully’s tournaments.

You are each by name perfectly and purposely made just as you are.

You are each by name given to you at birth by your parents who truly love you.

You are each by name given to by your stature, smile, and essence.

You are each by name given to by your adventures and your accomplishments.

You are each by name given to you by a God who knew you before you were created and with one breath spoke you into existence.

Flashback 2016 Speakers & Workshops

Location Accessibility

Thanks to the advocacy of the late Rita Desire a former member of La Mesa Church of Christ and her mission to make churches more inclusive, their inviting facility has been modified extensively for wheelchair access throughout the property. The church has accessible restrooms, ramps, clearly marked accessible parking spaces, and most recently (designed specifically for Each by Name) a wheelchair accessible stage. Pastor Graham Clifford and his congregation have kept Rita alive through their love and outreach to people of all abilities.

What to expect at Each By Name

Participants and volunteers alike participated in the 4 session breakdown of the conference which will include:

Session 1- Speakers:

Tayloure Marcella, Ms. Wheelchair California 2017

Mary Thompson, LCSW SHARP Medical Social Work

Angela Van O,

Niki Yoshimo, Accessible San Diego

Margarita Elizondo, CEO/Founder

Session 2- Workshops

Emily Dolton- Art

Luda Gogolushko – Self Publishing

Angela Van O – Parenting from the Lap

Dr. Jacqueline Jackson – Employment Development

Session 3- Adaptive Sports

SDSU Adaptive Sports

Triumph Foundation

Inclusive Dance

Adaptive Boxing lead by Carlos Gonzalez, Jr and Youth Athletic Gym

WCMX lead by Robert Thompkins, Gretchen Nagel, and Quinn Waitley

Session 4- Grand Finale

Abilities Art Show

Resource Fair

What happens after the conference?

Rolling With Me, Wheel:Life, and Comfort Medical want to continue the peer support. Margarita is a Wheel:Life Comfort Medical Ambassador and offers four focus topic articles a year on her personal experience as a Spinal Cord Injury Survivor. Please visit her articles and comment with your thoughts.

Rolling With Me has created a Facebook group page for Each By Name where participants and other women can stay connected and update each other on how they apply the leadership skills to create inclusion in their community. It is also a way to network and support each other. You may also book Margarita or any of the Each By Name, presenters for your next event! For sponsorship or vendor/exhibitor opportunities contact Resource Fair Coordinator, Tesia Canseco.

Book Your Ticket Today!!!

For continued updates on Each By Name, conference follow our Facebook page and Margarita @rollingwith_me on Twitter and Instagram.

About Comfort Medical

Based in Coral Springs, FL, Comfort Medical, LLC is the leading national mail-order provider of urological and ostomy supplies. Comfort is committed to supporting the needs of patients and healthcare professionals by providing a diverse product offering, convenient home delivery, education and support. Comfort Medical, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Medical Holdings, LLC. Learn more at www.comfortmedical.com or call 1-800-700-4246.

Comfort Conversations: Finding Your New Normal After a Spinal Cord injury

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Join us every other month for Comfort Conversations, a discussion series led by our Ambassadors who share their thoughts on issues affecting wheelchair users worldwide. Today’s topic is on finding a new normal after a spinal cord injury, written by Comfort Ambassador Margarita Elizondo.  

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As I laid in ICU hooked up to life support, sustained by IV’s, blood transfusions, and a very heavy piece of metal bolted to my head (halo), I was told I was facing the possibility of being dependent on a breathing machine. I was told I was paralyzed from my neckline down, and that I would never speak again. All I could think about was, “How am I going to be a mother to my kids?” Grounded in my faith, I began praying and fighting to gain back as much movement and independence as possible because I knew my children who were ages 13, 8, and 6 years old at the time, still needed me.

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We don’t all respond the same to trauma and loss. Some people become numb to the situation, some angry, some depressed, and some accept it and move on very quickly. No matter how we respond, we all go through a transition of finding our “new normal.”

Your Foundation

In order to find your “new normal,” you first have to identify yourself with a foundation that you’re going to stand on as your moral compass. For me, my faith has been my stomping ground. I celebrate my faith in good times and I rely on it for strength in times of difficulty. For some, it may be their determination to thrive, despite their limitations for others belief in a universe that’s greater than themselves. Having a foundation gives you hope and balance. It helps you learn from your past, live in your present, and no matter how much you’re struggling, look forward to the future.

(Check out Whrel:Life.org article on faith and rehabilitation)

Learning the New You While Holding onto the Old You.

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I’m 10 years post injury and still forget to I can’t do all the things I used to do. While trauma does cause a lot of pain, for the most part, your mind, your heart, and your soul, post injury remain intact. Only your body has changed, not you. So first learn what you can do with the new changes and thrive to gain back as much mobility as possible in order to become as independent as possible. Then, realign your mind, heart, and soul with the body you have now. Your mind will always fall back into who you used to be before your injury, especially if your injury occurred later in life like me (I was 32 years old when I got hurt). You will learn to merge who you were then with how you do things now, and who you are today. Remember, past experiences make future experiences even greater!

 Acceptance

Acceptance is the hardest transition. Even if you accepted your situation at the onset of your injury, you will face many challenges and even a few barriers that will make you cry out, “Why me?” There will be times when you will encounter people who treat you differently because sadly, all they see is the chair and you will cry out, “Why me?” There will be many times that you see your peers doing things you would be doing if you were not paralyzed and you will cry out, “Why me?” Some may tell you, “God will only put on your plate what you can handle.” Others may tell you, “This was your destiny.” My all-time favorite is, “Why does it matter you’re such an inspiration.”

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I tell people as long as you’re alive, you have a purpose in life. Adversity is something we all go through to make our purpose stronger. We can’t change what happened to us, but we can control how we allow it to affect us. Either we choose to live as victims or we choose to live as survivors and push through every challenge, even when it feels like the challenge wants to consume us.

Direction

What now? We all ask. Sadly, for most, career plans and hobbies come to a complete stop along with their mobility.

The truth is direction changes in people’s lives all the time, regardless of trauma or paralysis. Once your rehabilitation plan is done or at least stable and you have learned your new body’s abilities, it’s time to discover adaptive living.

Adaptive living coupled with your old interests will help give you a new sense of direction. A huge part of adaptive living is maximizing all resources: Department of Rehabilitation, Independent Living, peer support groups, and even going back to school. Through these resources, you will occupy time, learn new skills, meet new people, and decide what direction you can take in life. Keep in mind, you will be starting all over again and just like the first time, you may try a direction that does not work out for you, but don’t give up. Just keep pushing forward until you create the lifestyle that fits you.

Here are some tips to follow:

  1. Have a vision.
  2. Create a plan.
  3. Set goals for your plan.
  4. Go for it!
  5. Succeed or not, but learn from your attempt.
  6. Then start again!

Stay Connected!

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Life with a SCI has many transitions and sadly as an inpatient and outpatient, the main focus is getting you as independent as possible and not necessarily preparing you for all the different transitions you will face in the future. Main reasons being; it’s a lot to tackle in such a short period of time and not everyone’s transitions are the same, nor take place at the same time. The best person to help guide you through the many transitions life with a SCI will put you through is another SCI survivor who has already gone through them. Peer support and online groups will help get you the one on one answers to a lot of your questions and give you tips on new ways of living.

I run a faith-based group called Blessed with Life for individuals and families affected by disability. It has helped me find my new normal, keeps me grounded in my foundation and provides the peer support from like-minded people who understand my struggles.

About the author:Margarita Headshot

Comfort Medical Ambassador Margarita Elizondo is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, producer/host of Wheel Talk Wheel Issues, model, author and an ambassador for the Los Angeles Abilities Expo. She was paralyzed in 2006 after an intruder broke into her home. Now, a single mother of three and grandmother, she pursues a degree in Communication at Grossmont Community College, and works for Axia Management where she designed a wireless phone service for seniors and individuals with disabilities. As Ms. Wheelchair California 2013, she is a strong advocate in the disability community and volunteers for numerous nonprofits. You can follow her @Ms_Hotwheels on Twitter and Instagram, or reach her on Facebook or through www.margaritaelizondo.com.

 

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Comfort Medical delivers the leading brands of catheters and ostomy products to customers who use wheelchairs nationwide.

Comfort Medical delivers the leading brands of catheters and ostomy products to customers who use wheelchairs nationwide.

comfort medical brochureThe Wheel:Life-Comfort Medical Relationship

Wheel:Life is now part of the Comfort Medical family! With more than 26,000 followers on social media, we served more than 100,000 website visitors with lifestyle resources in 2015.  To help us expand our community impact, we have become part of the Comfort Medical organization.

Thanks to our relationship, we are able serve even more people who use wheelchairs with lifestyle resources, helpful products, and services.

Comfort Medical provides an extensive selection of name brand catheter and ostomy supplies to thousands of customers nationwide.

Their attention to detail, unmatched customer service, and dedication to helping customers live a happier, healthier life are just a few of the many reasons Comfort is one of the fastest growing catheter and ostomy supply companies in the nation.

If you have any questions about your medical supply needs, click here to get in touch with a Comfort Medical specialist!

Note: The Comfort Conversations articles are for informational use only and are not intended to be construed as medical advice. Ask your doctor about issues related to your health and medical needs.

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