To a new family who may have found us-we are so very sorry that you've been thrust into this voyage. You've come to the right place for help. If you don't read one other thing, Dr. Young's article (mentioned above) is crucial. I think we all wish we'd had such a resource. May God be with you.
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Wise. What another great resource that people can tap into! Thank you so much again for the wealth of information you impart to others. PLGThe SCI-Nurses are advanced practice nurses specializing in SCI/D care. They are available to answer questions, provide education, and make suggestions which you should always discuss with your physician/primary health care provider before implementing. Medical diagnosis is not provided, nor do the SCI-Nurses provide nursing or medical care through their responses on the CareCure forums.Comment
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This is in response to Curtis, although I notice his post is a couple of months old. I agree that for some folks, no matter how hard they try, they will not regain function. However, if function is going to return, I believe that extra effort in participation in therapy, i.e. working your butt off, does improve the amount of function that will be regained, especially in the early months. I was told this early after my injury by an Indian doctor who had specialized with SCI patients in India using Eastern medicine (a friend of my sister's). This may be anecdotal but I ended up gaining far more return than the rehab staff predicted I would. I also thought it was sad how many of my fellow patients would either refuse their therapy sessions, or go and put in minimal effort. I have no medical evidence to back up my theory, just my own gut feeling that had I not worked so hard, I would not be as well off as I am now. I tend to think there may be a window of opportunity for retraining to occur, or for other parts of the nervous system to take over the function of the damaged portion. I would be curious as to what Dr. Young has to say.Comment
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Dr. Wise Young,
[img]/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif[/img]You are so great!
Vahid (New Member)Comment
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dunwawry, I wish I knew what the window of opportunity is for recovery of function. While it is true that the most recovery usually occurs during the first six months after injury, I know people who have recovered a year or more after injury. It probably depends on the severity and type of injury, whether there is demyelination and how much non-use there was. What I do know is that there is insufficient justification for doctors telling patients that they should not expect any recovery more than a 6-12 months after injury. I know of sufficient exceptions of this rule that this pessimistic rule should be put away and not be used to deprive people of hope and motivation to work hard at recovery. It is true that not everybody recovers. On the other hand, it is also true that if people are discouraged and do not try, fewer people will recover. Wise.Comment
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h.resch@aon.at
Dear Sir,
I would like to ask for some advices:
I have a patient with traumatic C5 fracture and lesion of the spinal cord with complete paraplegia from C6 downward. The patient is 19 years old and sustained a motocross accident one week ago. We have performed surgery immediately after the accident in order to remove the body of C5 which narrowed the spinal cord about half of its thickness. The fracture then was stabilised by bone block and plate. The patient had also received high dose cortisone immediately after the accident from the rescue team.
On the MRI 5 days after the accident the spinal cord has enough space and seems not to be interrupted but shows edema and a little bit of a central bleeding.
I would like to ask you for some recommendations in the treatment. Has somebody of you something we could give to the patient even if it is in the experimental stage? I hope you can give me some advices!
Thank you
Dr. Herbert Resch
General Hospital Salzburg, AustriaComment
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Dr. Resch, I applaud you for seeking out resources beyond the usual avenues for your patient. If he is within the first 15 days of his injury, I would certainly look into the Proneuron program in either Israel or Belguim.
http://www.proneuron.com/
You can learn more about this and other therapies in the research phase on the Cure forum here as well.
(KLD)The SCI-Nurses are advanced practice nurses specializing in SCI/D care. They are available to answer questions, provide education, and make suggestions which you should always discuss with your physician/primary health care provider before implementing. Medical diagnosis is not provided, nor do the SCI-Nurses provide nursing or medical care through their responses on the CareCure forums.Comment
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Dear Dr. Resch,
I apologize for not having responded to your post earlier. There are two experimental therapies that are currently in clinical trial for the subacute period (2 weeks)of spinal cord injury:
1. Activated macrophage transplants (Brussels)
2. Alternating current application (Purdue)
3. Ambulation training.
The last is active in Switzerland, at the Balchrist Rehabilitation Center. I also know that Dr. Milan Dimitrijevic in Vienna has been actively studying the use of epidural stimulation of the L2 locomotor pattern generator. Finally, there is much interest and effort being expended on intensive exercise therapies directed at preventing "learned non-use". Several of the articles that I have posted on our main server may be of interest to you. For example, you may be interested in:
The Effects of Intensive Training on Motor Recovery
Wise.
Wise Young, Ph.D., M.D., Professor & Chair
Dept. of Cell Biology & Neuroscience
W. M. Keck Center of Collaborative Neuroscience
D224 Nelson Lab, 604 Allison Rd., Busch Campus
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Piscataway NJ 08854-8082
tel: 732-445-2061, fax: 732-445-2063
email: wisey@pipeline.com; http:sciwire.comComment
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A great help, thanksComment
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My niece is 5 years old and she became paralyzed in her wrists and hands. She was outside and told her mom her back was hurting and then went back outside. About 30 min. later she went to the restroom. My sister heard her crying, so went check on her. Her back was hurting and she couldn't open the door. The doctors did 2 mri's, spinal fluid test, cat scan, blood tests, and an x-ray. They didn't find a thing wrong with her. Is there anything else out there that could of contributed to her paralysis? Her back stopped hurting her within 15-20 minutes after my sister found her crying in the restroom. She is gaining strength back in her hands slowly. She is going through therapy and got to back to school after 2 weeks. She is able to straighten out her fingers on the left hand but still has no strength in it yet. Her right hand has enough strength to hold light objects.Comment
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strum, it is not clear what your niece had but one likely possibility is ischemia (embolization). If a cause is not found, the condition is called a transverse myelitis. I am glad to hear that she is getting some functional return. I will post more when I have time. Wise.My niece is 5 years old and she became paralyzed in her wrists and hands. She was outside and told her mom her back was hurting and then went back outside. About 30 min. later she went to the restroom. My sister heard her crying, so went check on her. Her back was hurting and she couldn't open the door. The doctors did 2 mri's, spinal fluid test, cat scan, blood tests, and an x-ray. They didn't find a thing wrong with her. Is there anything else out there that could of contributed to her paralysis? Her back stopped hurting her within 15-20 minutes after my sister found her crying in the restroom. She is gaining strength back in her hands slowly. She is going through therapy and got to back to school after 2 weeks. She is able to straighten out her fingers on the left hand but still has no strength in it yet. Her right hand has enough strength to hold light objects.Comment
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Hi,
My wife had a sudden, still unexplained fully, stroke of her spine, C7 complete, just about 6 months ago. We spent over 2 weeks in a local hospital with no diagonosis. We ended up at Johns Hopkins. They were amazing on every level and are certainly (all due respect to Rutgers) I believe the best at understanding Neuro issues that are very hard to explain. If you want more info on our experience, please email me at naamodt@eventstrategygroup.com.
Take care,
NormComment
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Norm, I agree. I have great admiration for the Johns Hopkins group and believe that they are not only great diagnostically but are very compassionate and take good care of their patients.
Wise.Comment
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Wise is not only great-He is AkhbarOriginally posted by Vahidweb
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h.resch@aon.at
Dear Sir,
I would like to ask for some advices:
I have a patient with traumatic C5 fracture and lesion of the spinal cord with complete paraplegia from C6 downward. The patient is 19 years old and sustained a motocross accident one week ago. We have performed surgery immediately after the accident in order to remove the body of C5 which narrowed the spinal cord about half of its thickness. The fracture then was stabilised by bone block and plate. The patient had also received high dose cortisone immediately after the accident from the rescue team.
On the MRI 5 days after the accident the spinal cord has enough space and seems not to be interrupted but shows edema and a little bit of a central bleeding.
I would like to ask you for some recommendations in the treatment. Has somebody of you something we could give to the patient even if it is in the experimental stage? I hope you can give me some advices!
Thank you
Dr. Herbert Resch
General Hospital Salzburg, Austria
WOW! I wish my doctor would have taken this kind of intiative. I might have gotten something back.
"There's too many things to get done, and I'm running out of days" 3 Doors DownComment
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