Monica Bascio Balances Family Life and Career in Her Quest for Paralympic Gold in London

Guest blog post by Bob Vogel

Monica Bascio will be representing the U.S. in handcycling time trial and road race events in the upcoming 2012 Paralympic Games in London that kicks off in six weeks. For Bascio, 42, handcycling in the Paralympics is the culmination of a 14-year journey of dedication and hard work. Bascio is a natural athlete and extremely competitive, however sports is just one aspect of her multi-faceted life—she is the proud mom of her 5-year-old son, Henry, dedicated wife with her husband, Ian, and an Occupational Therapist specializing in geriatrics.

Bascio became a T12 paraplegic in 1992 as a result of a skiing accident.  Following SCI rehab she pursued a degree in Occupational Therapy.  She got her first handcycle in 1997 as a way to stay fit and enjoy the outdoors with Ian, a former bike racer, and quickly developed a passion for the sport.

Bascio started handcycle racing in 1998 and was ranked the number one handcyclist in the world over the next five years, winning more that 30 handcycle races. In 2004 handcycling made its debut as a Paralympic sport in Athens, Greece, but unfortunately there was no women’s division–a huge disappointment for Bascio, who was arguably the top woman handcyclist at the time.

Undeterred, Bascio decided to try adaptive cross-country skiing (sit skiing). Once again her natural athletic ability, competitive nature and work ethic enabled her to quickly rise through the competitive ranks earning her a six-year run on the U.S. ski team where she represented the U.S. as a cross-country sit skier in the 2006 and 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

In the off-season Bascio continued handcycling as a form of cross-training.

Bascio took much of 2007 off from competing in order to embark on a new adventure. On July 8 of that year, she gave birth to her son Henry and she and Ian proudly adapted to the world of parenthood.  By early 2008 Bascio was ready to start competing and the family created a balance of parenting, work and training that would enable Bascio to get back into ski racing.

Around the same time, Bascio’s dream of Paralympic handcycling seemed like it would come to fruition when it was announced that women’s handcycling would become an event at the 1998 summer Paralympics in Beijing.  Unfortunately in March she broke her tibia and fibula transferring out of a team van while at cross country race in Norway. Although her leg healed in time for her to compete in the Paralympic trials, she didn’t have enough time to get back into racing form and didn’t make the team.

After competing in the 2010 winter Paralympics in Vancouver, Bascio considered retiring from competition, but a rule change added an H3 class to the Paralympics. This meant she would be racing against athletes with similar function rather than an open class. Bascio quickly set her sights on the London Paralympics with the family agreeing to take it “One race at a time.”

Motherhood, family life, work and training at an elite level requires amazing balance and dedication. “On a typical day I’m up at 6:00am to put in a solid 3-hour workout on my handcycle. On some days it is a 4-hour workout.  In the meantime, Ian makes breakfast for Henry and gets him ready for the day.”  She says.  “By around 10:00am, I’m home. Ian heads to the office and I take over watching Henry and maintaining the housework.  We take turns making dinners.  Ian and I chuckle because most of our dinner conversation revolves around my training.”  Ian watches Henry on the days Bascio is working as an OT.  “The key to making it all work is we support each other, communicate and work together to balance the challenges of work, raising Henry and training for the Paralympics.”

Bascio says that although the family enjoys the hectic schedule, it can be draining.  “Ian cracks up because although I hardly ever watch TV, I love watching ‘The Biggest Looser’ (a show about weight-loss ‘boot camp’). She says. “I look at the show and think, ‘If all I had to do was stay at a campus and have a coach and do workouts all day it would be like a vacation!’”

Bascio says the other challenge in balancing family life with competition is the travel schedule. “My last trip in June was pretty crazy.  I was racing at a World Cup race in Italy for two weeks, flew back to the States, was home for two weeks, then flew to Spain to race in a World Cup race.” She says.

“Then I flew to London for 36 hours to ride the race course, then flew straight to the Nationals in Augusta, GA, and of course the plane was delayed so I didn’t get in until about 9:00pm and met Ian and Henry and Henry hadn’t seen me in so long and wanted to go swimming at the pool at the hotel, and I still had to put my bike together—then had a race the next day.”

Bascio has been an avid ROHO user for the past 15 years.  “I love ROHOs” says Bascio. “When I was first injured 20 years ago, the equipment vendor I had in rehab had the ‘old school’ mentality that a ROHO cushion was for people with higher level injuries or people that already had problems with skin breakdown so they ordered a gel cushion. I didn’t like it because it was heavy and I didn’t want to take the time to massage the gel the way I was supposed to.  When it was time to order my next cushion I switched to a ROHO and I’ve been using them ever since.”

As an OT and an athlete, Bascio is aware of how quickly a pressure ulcer can happen. “I know wheelchair users that have had pressure ulcers and I’ve seen what they go through and the great length of time it takes to heal.  I’m not willing to take that risk.” she says. “When I broke my leg it cost me a spot on the Paralympics and a pressure ulcer can take much longer to heal.  I’m always sitting on a ROHO.  I use a ROHO QUADTRO SELECT LOW PROFILE on my chair and I sit on a LTV ROHO Seat Cushion in the car.  I keep an ADAPTOR Pad in my backpack for travel and use it in the tub or shower bench, or when I’m sitting on the side of a pool or sitting on the ground working on my bike.  And of course I sit on my QUADTRO SELECT on long plane flights.”

Ian and Henry, along with other members of Bascio’s family will be in London to cheer for Bascio.  “Henry gets to travel to a lot of competitions.  He has become a member of the handcycling community.  Everybody knows him and a lot of the other athletes have kids so he has friends to play with. He has his own frequent flyer card and is already on his 2^nd passport.”

Says Bascio.  Proof of the saying, “The family that plays together, stays together.”race.

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Bob Vogel, 51, is a freelance writer for the ROHO Community blog. He is a dedicated dad, adventure athlete and journalist. Bob is in his 26th year as a T10 complete para. For the past two decades he has written for New Mobility magazine and is now their Senior Correspondent. He often seeks insight and perspective from his 10-year-old daughter, Sarah, and Schatzie, his 9-year-old German Shepherd service dog. The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of Bob Vogel and do not necessarily reflect the views of The ROHO Group. You can contact Bob Vogel by email at online.relations@therohogroup.com.

Push Girls—So Far, So Good!

Guest blog post by Bob Vogel

There was a huge amount of press coverage leading up to the June 4 debut of Push Girls–a 14-episode reality TV show about the lives of four women with SCI (spinal cord injuries) airing on The Sundance Channel, Monday evenings at 10:00pm—including an in-depth cover story in New Mobility magazine.

Like it or not, media plays a huge impact on the way in which people view the world, and all too often wheelchair users are portrayed as two dimensional characters in film or on TV–usually falling into stereotypes of “heroic inspiration”, “bitter victim”, “evil villain” or in the case of “Artie” on the TV show Glee—a caricature.

My background includes a BA in broadcasting, with an emphasis on television production. I don’t get the Sundance channel, so I’ve popped for the $2.99 per episode on iTunes to view the five episodes that have aired to date and critically viewed them, pausing to take notes, and replaying to look for flaws—I’ve been pleasantly surprised and entertained.

The reality of reality TV is that an editor can only fit so much into a 25-minute show, including  bringing it to some type of conclusion.  The show is done well, starting with camera angles that are set at the women’s eye level or below (wheelchair height—rather than shooting from standing height looking down).  This is a big deal as it portrays the women as strong and powerful.

The show does a good job blending day to day issues like paying bills, dating and relationships, with SCI issues like transferring into the shower, using a standing frame to help keep bones strong, transferring a chair into and out of the car and answering questions that wheelchair users hear all too often like “can you have sex?”. I love Tiphany’s answer “Yes, lots and lots of sex.” By the way, that question isn’t always unwelcome, in fact it is quite inviting when asked by a person you find attractive!

The five episodes thus far have covered a lot of ground, from a ball room dance competition—with Auti showing very cool dance moves, both individual and  with her partner–break-ups, speed dating, to Auti and her husband going to a fertility specialist as she tries to have a child at 42—yes, women with SCI can and do have children.

The key to the show is the power of friendship–the four women support each other, have each other’s backs and provide honest feedback to one another.  It is also cool to see the way they help mentor a 5^th Push Girl, Chelsie, who is still learning the ropes as she approaches her 2^nd year as a para.

When it comes to media portraying people with SCI, my biggest pet peeves are two all-too-common “sensationalized” and incorrect headline themes “Not being able to walk and using a wheelchair is terrible, the end of the world.” and “A person with SCI can walk again if they have the willpower and work hard enough.”  The “Walking again” headlines fail to mention that the a person that is finally able to walk had an incomplete injury, meaning there still is still some sensation and/or voluntary movement below the injury and that sometimes people continue to get more functional return over time. With enough return,  intensive therapy and hard work can enable a person to walk. But in a person with a complete injury—meaning there is no sensation or movement below the level of injury—all the willpower and hard work in the world isn’t going to create more muscle movement, much less result in walking.  By neglecting to report this information, the general public is left with the idea that “If you aren’t walking, it’s because you don’t have the willpower and aren’t trying hard enough”.

The impact of these stories becomes evident in episode 3 “You Don’t Get It” when Mia (at 32, has been a para since age 14 when a blood vessel ruptured in her spinal cord) is visited by her mom for the first time in 3 years.  Her mom is a recovering alcoholic and the two have had a difficult relationship.  At the beginning of the show, Mia’s mom says “When I heard that Mia may not walk again I just wished she’d die because I didn’t know what her life was going to be like.”

When Mia opens the door for her mom, one of the first things her mom says, in a disappointed voice  “You mean you’re not walking yet?” We see Mia’s uncomfortable look of disbelief (she has been injured 18 years).  Next Mia gets into her standing frame and her mom says “Can you still move your toe? Did you get any other movement back?” Mia responds flatly “I can move two toes.”  Then her mom says, “I would think that Mia would want to walk if she could but it’s like that is all closed off to her.”  Insinuating that Mia isn’t trying. She starts telling Mia she keep reading about the progress they are making in SCI research.  We see Mia say “My mom has this misconception that if you can’t be walking then there is no possible way you can be happy or live a fulfilling life.  So I need to show her that I am living a fulfilling life.”

Throughout the episode there is difficult discussion back and forth—Mia brings up how difficult her mom’s alcoholism was on her.  Strain is evident in Mia’s face as different issues are brought up.

Mia takes her mom on a day of errands and shopping—at one point Mia does one of the coolest up-a-set-of-two stair transfers (going from her chair, up to a patio chair then back to her wheelchair) I’ve seen–to show her that she is leading a fulfilling life.  While this is going on we see the other women buying a cake and getting ready for Angela’s 10^th “Celebration of Life” (celebrating 10-years since her accident) party.  Later Mia and her mom join the other Push Girls for lunch, as Mia’s mom meets the women for the first time she says “As I walked into the restaurant I was amazed at how glamorous her friends were.”  By the end of lunch it appears that for the first time Mia’s mom gets the big picture and lets go of focusing on the wheelchair.  Mia says “The girls had an amazing effect on my mom, I could see it. I could feel her energy change, like a sense of relief.  It was amazing progress to make with my mom in one trip.”

As I write this I am anticipating tomorrow nights episode, which says “takes on one of the most controversial topics of our times” and will feature Chelsie’s continued pursuit of dreams of walking.  Trailers show Chelsie doing physical training at a SCI clinic designed to help maximize functional ability. And she is considering stem cell treatments, which are only done in other countries, are extremely expensive and scientifically unproven.  For an in depth story on stem cell treatments see New Mobility magazine.  It will be interesting to see how the episode plays out.

As the show progresses, I hope we learn more about how the women make ends meet.  Thus far, we have seen Mia in her job at a graphic design and branding firm and Angela is trying to re-start her modeling career.

It is apparent from the comments on the Push Girls website, they are connecting with fans.  I hope the show continues to grow in popularity and gets picked up for another season.  Perhaps a spin-off, Push Guys?

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Bob Vogel, 51, is a freelance writer for the ROHO Community blog. He is a dedicated dad, adventure athlete and journalist. Bob is in his 26th year as a T10 complete para. For the past two decades he has written for New Mobility magazine and is now their Senior Correspondent. He often seeks insight and perspective from his 10-year-old daughter, Sarah, and Schatzie, his 9-year-old German Shepherd service dog. The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of Bob Vogel and do not necessarily reflect the views of The ROHO Group. You can contact Bob Vogel by email at online.relations@therohogroup.com.