The other day, I went to Courage Kenny center for an assessment.
I was there for four hours, from 12 PM-4 PM (not including the drive there and
back). They have a program called ABLE there that helps people with certain
types of disabilities. They are brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple
sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, stroke and other neurological diagnoses. The
program of exactly what they do is described in the next paragraph in a quote
taken from their website:
“If you are living with paralysis or a neurological
condition, the ABLE: Activity-Based Locomotor Exercise Program, may help you.
ABLE is based on the most up-to-date scientific and clinical evidence. It’s
designed to speed up recovery after a spinal cord injury. The objective is to
help your brain and spinal cord relearn motor patterns associated with standing
and walking. The ultimate goal is to increase your mobility and improve your
health.”
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| The Treadmill |
In my assessment, the PT and OT first brought me into a room
that had a treadmill in it. They told me that if I were going to do it, I would
get up into a harness and onto the treadmill. Then they have people who would
assist me in walking on it. I decided I would wait on getting up on the
treadmill because my ventilator tubing (8 foot) wouldn’t reach from my chair to
me standing on it. I knew this for sure because I had an assessment a couple of
years ago and tried but it wouldn’t reach.
Then they brought to me into the assessment room and first
asked me a bunch of questions. Most were on a scale and included questions
about my history, feeling, movement, activity level and many more. Then they
transferred me to a memory foam chair. First, they laid the chair back all the
way, took my blood pressure three times in a row, and then sat the chair up
fast and took my BP 10 times in a row. They wanted to see how my BP would hold
up in an upright position. My BP went down slightly, but not enough to where it
was concerning. This was important because since I have a spinal cord injury,
my BP usually is on the low side, and I need to take medication for it.
After this, the OT took measurements of me and then tested
my movement. She had a device that beeped when something pressed against it.
It’s a way to measure movement based off if it made noise, how long the beep
was and how hard the pressure was. Out of all the places they tested, I was
able to make it beep once when I tried to pull my right arm back. After doing
the program for a certain amount of time, they will revisit this test to see if
I’ve improved on movement.
In order to check my balance, they transferred me to a table
mat. I sat up on the edge of it to see if I could sit up without assistance.
After being held for a few minutes, I was able to balance myself for about 15
seconds. I used to do this with my physical therapist on the edge of my bed.
Also, they checked to see if I was able to use my ab muscles to pull myself
forward and back muscles to pull myself back. I was able to fire my back
muscles, but not the front.
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| Table Mat |
The last thing they did before transferring me back to my
wheelchair was had me stand up. There were 4 people that helped, one in back
holding my backside, one in front holding my knees, and 2 on each side of me
grabbing under my armpits. Simultaneously, up I went for about 10 seconds until
my left knee buckled. It still hurts a little sometimes from when I injured it a few years ago
standing in my wheelchair. Although I've been wearing a knee brace at night and that's been helping.
I believe in this program and have proof from a friend of
mine that’s in it that it works. His injury is below mine and not on a vent but
is paralyzed from the shoulders down. He’s been going there for over three
years and has gained a lot more movement than he had before. He used to use a
sip and puff to drive his wheelchair like me, but now he can move his arms
enough to drive his chair with a joystick. He also said there were other people
who have gained more movement since starting. These are just a couple examples
of the benefits that the ABLE program has.
Overall, it was helpful to do the assessment to see where
I’m at now and how far I can advance in the future. When I start, I will be
getting on a regular schedule of twice a week, for 2 ½ hours at a time. If I
were going to do the treadmill as well, I would be there for longer. The first
session is for 6 weeks in a row and then they will assess me again. I can’t
wait to see how much I progress over time. I’ll keep everyone updated as time
passes!
Jenni
