International Center for Spinal Cord Injury!

The International Center for SCI has an aggressive outpatient program (5+ hrs/day) that I have applied for! It is located in Baltimore, MD in a brand new wing of the Kennedy Krieger Institute. They are really involved in curing SCI and promoting nerve regeneration through Research Restoration Recovery. They use Activity Based Restoration Therapy techniques to "remind" the spinal cord of the movement and hopefully be able move again. They use alot of E-stim, aquatherapy, and the standing frame. My favorite things ...

"For many years, conventional wisdom held that most improvement from spinal cord injuries occurred in the first six months of recovery, and that improvement was impossible after two years. "Rehabilitation" focused mostly on teaching patients how to compensate for injuries thought to be irreversible. Conventional wisdom was wrong. The International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (ICSCI) at Kennedy Krieger was founded on the philosophy that individuals with paralysis can always hope for recovery of sensation, function, mobility and independence, even many months or years after their injuries." - from their website ....

Here's how it works: we would go there for a minimum of 3 weeks 4-5 days a week, they would develop a Home Program (for our new house) and help get the equipment approved. Every couple of months we would go back for a refresher. I am really excited and hope I get accepted! The Inner Harbor and crabcakes are an added bonus!

http://www.spinalcordrecovery.org/index.jsp their website - the videos are awesome and give me hope!!

The story of patient Brian Keefer and his experience in the new aquatic therapy center.
http://www.foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/features/cover_story/videos/vid_478.shtml
*Note: 4-5 second wait as the video loads

The grand opening celebration of their new outpatient center and interviews
http://wjz.com/local/kennedy.krieger.spinal.2.1022626.html
*Note: video will appear top right with play icon superimposed

Pray that I get in!

I hope my first "solo" post is as good as Britt's

New Pool Tricks!

This video was taken of K in the pool at therapy. K has been working on balance and using his trunk muscles. He has also been practicing rolling side to side and was unable to until recently. We are ecstatic that because he has been able to roll completely over that God is working K's muscles in his lower back and hips. (Sorry you have to turn sideways!)

For the first time, K has been able to use his back muscles and hips to bring himself almost to a full stand independently! K's body floats on his back when he is in the water, and they normally have to put weights on his ankles to make his legs go down. Because of this new muscle return, K is able to visualize about standing and put his legs down towards the bottom of the pool! We are really excited about this new development!

This video is similar to the one above only K's therapist his helping him come to full stand by pulling his hips forward. This is a great workout for his trunk muscles because there is nothing supporting his upper body.