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Since my injury, I have
used numerous training methods to both strengthen the muscles I have
and get back the muscles I don't. This page details all the
different ways that I have trained in an effort to reach full
recovery.
Inpatient PT/OT
In the months immediately following my
injury, my muscles were so weak and atrophied that I could barely
move anything. I worked with my great therapists Amy and Judith. A
lot of my therapy revolved around stretching my extremities and
doing simple shoulder excercises with air casts or light weights.
   
Since I had been so used to lying down
for so long, my body could hardly tolerate sitting upright. I also
had no trunk control, and had to be propped up to sit up straight.
Other early stages of therapy included learning to roll over, lie on
my stomach, as well as working on hand strength and
control.
Standing Frame
A piece of equipment that I began using
in inpatient and still use regularly today is the standing frame. It
is a simple machine that starts in a seated position that can be
pumped up to a standing position. It is great for blood circulation
and to relieve pressure.
I stay in it for at least a hour, maybe
two, a couple times a week if I can. Anything that gets me standing
can't be bad, right?
NuStep
I began using this machine early for both
cardio exercise and to get my legs in motion. It is kind of like a
NordicTrack machine, where the arms move as the legs move, but
sitting down. It's a good upper-body workout that allows me to
concentrate on using my legs, no matter how little they may be
moving.
 
Thanks to the support and generous
donations of members of the Hidden Valley Alpine Racing Association,
I was able to get a NuStep of my own.
Outpatient PT/OT
After returning home to NJ, I began
outpatient rehab about 3 1/2 months after my injury. This therapy
was similar to inpatient, but worked on more advanced skills such as
transferring, coming up to sit, trunk control, leg management, and
wheelchair skills. After about four months of this, I felt this
therapy had taken me as far as I could go. We began to look for more
options.
Pool Therapy
We knew we needed to start stimulating my
lower body if we wanted to get it going. We knew using the pool
could be a good idea because I enjoyed it while in inpatient. My mom
came across a book called "Overcoming Paralysis" by Dr. Igor
Burdenko. After reading through it we decided to give it a try. We
began going to the local Y, and my abilities were noticeably
improving. When the weather got warm enough, we began using our pool
at home. Improvements due to training in the pool
included:
-Abdominal and oblique
strengthening
-Movement in thighs and
hamstrings
-Lower back control
-Ability to stand in shallow end with
support
Bowflex/Weight/Resistance
Training
While the pool provided a place to take
away gravity and work muscles with trace movement, my arms and
upper-body still needed a lot more strengthening. My trainer and I,
on non-pool days, would typically use our Bowflex for 30-45 minutes.
It is a great machine for using stabilizer muscles and triceps.
We would also do simple free weights
exercises with gripping gloves, such as shoulder presses and bicep
curls. Resistance training, which was suggested strongly in
Burdenko's book, also proved to be beneficial. Rubber tubing can be
used for many exercises; about as many exercises as you can think
of.
Acupuncture
I have just recently started giving
acupuncture a try. At first I wasn't sure if it was for me, but I
think it's something that could help me. Acupuncture has been
recognized for hundreds of years as affective treatment for a number
of ailments and diseases.
To find out more, visit http://www.neuroacupuncture.org/ for
more info.
Massage Therapy
Massage has proven to not only to be
beneficial in relaxing the sore, overused muscles in my upper body,
but the lower body too. Stimulation to the muscles and
increasing blood flow can be very important when trying to regain
strength and control. I've found deep massage to be very helpful in
aiding in the recovery process.
FES Bike
I began riding an FES (Functional
Electric Stimulation) bike in February of 2006. I was accepted into
a medical study at the Children's Specialized Hospital in
Mountainside, NJ and ride 2-3 times a week, 30 minutes a session.
The drive is a little far (about 45 min.), but you can't beat the
price.
The way the bike works is there are pads
that stick to your quads, hamstrings, and glutes that connect to the
machine. The bike delivers pulses to your muscles in the sequence
that any regular person would use to pedal a bike. One of the nice
features about the model I am using is that you pedal right from
your wheelchair with your feet strapped in front of you. It is
controlled by a Windows based program that lets you set the time,
speed, and power delivered to each pad.
So far my progress is coming along on the
FES. I've shown improvements in speed and distance. While it
probably won't single-handedly get my muscles strong enough to walk
it will be a great supplement to what I am already doing.
ProjectWalk
After working for about 6 months with my
trainer Eric on pool and land, we began the next phase of recovery.
I felt I needed to take my workouts to the next level, and I was
able to do so by spending a week in Carlsbad, CA at ProjectWalk.
There, we learned exercises and techniques that allowed me to
stimulate muscles below my level of injury. We went home with a
customized program that we used for 3 months before returning to
Carlsbad for the month of January, 2006. Check out www.projectwalk.org to learn more. Look in the Videos section of my site to see my video or
any other clients at Project Walk. Some of the exercises I've
learned include:
-Kneeling
-Total Gym
-Core strengthening
-Spin Bike
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