Getting Closer!

Andrew's gym is nearly complete. I picked up his FES (Fundamental Electronic Stimulator) Bike yesterday and his work-out table is nearly complete as well. The bike is amazing. We will hook electronic stimulators to specific areas on his legs and/or arms and back and a current is signaled in a specific sequence which causes his muscles to react and actually pedal the bike himself. It's not an automatic thing that pedals for him. His muscles make it happen. It's great exercise and the repitition is necessary for reorganizing his central nervous system.

I ordered the bike from a company that was conducting a demonstration at a conference held in Phoenix this week. It was a conference about new therapies and medicines available for those with spinal cord injuries. I was lucky enough to be able to go pick the bike up instead of waiting the standard 8 weeks for one. While in the lobby, I was waiting for the company rep to come out and get me to give me the bike . . . I saw a man walking through the lobby. I recognized him to be Patrick Rummerfield. Patrick is the world's only fully functioning quadriplegic. I have had the opportunity to speak with him over the phone and a bit on Facebook, but I'd never met him before. I introduced myself and he remember who me and Andrew were. I was able to speak with him for a moment and it was so inspiring. He truly is walking hope! What an amazing person he is.

We will be completing the remote set-up on the bike on Monday and Andrew will be well on his way. He's very excited and anxious to get going. He was able to get on the FES bikes at Project Walk a lot, and it was amazing how tired they really made him. His muscles really have to work and that can only be a good thing for him and his body.

Andrew is nearly completely off his neuro meds now. He went from beginning of injury being on 2400 mg of Neurontin (Gabapentin) to zero last week. Neurontin is used for nerve pain and basically further keeps you from feeling anything beyond what you already can't feel from being paralyzed. Even though Andrew is paralyzed, he does have annoying feeling and pain in his body. Unfortunately, these meds can hinder what the activity-based excercise does. So far though, the most he's feeling is a tingling and buzzing feeling in his feet and hands. We have also decreased his Baclofen by a lot, and are now going to competely get him off that as well. Baclofen is used to keep him from having so many involuntary spasms. With activity-based excercise, spasms are actually a good thing. They are used to promote movement and are very necessary when doing weight-bearing activities. He is currently on 60 mg a day . . . which is a lot less than the 160 mg he used to take a day. We decrease by 10 mg a week, so in about 6 weeks he'll be free of the Baclofen. His spasms will be crazy, but he says he doesn't care . . . he just wants to be off those meds. He is an amazing person, that's for sure.

We are still waiting for his slide board and his standing frame to come in. Those pieces of equipment are also vital to his program because they are for weight-bearing activity and help to keep his bones dense. Doctor's are amazed at how dense Andrew's bones are for being paralyzed now for over 2.5 years. His density really has not decreased. They attribute that to how much he was in the gym before his injury as well as the activity-based therapy he has received since being injured.

I will keep posting as we progress in the gym and as Andrew begins his home-based program. God is making this happen and we all know there is so much more to come.

God Bless you all,
Joye