Greg FeelyQuadriplegic - for now.

My Goals

Update: I am now doing great on the FES bike.  Thank you for your support.

First……Short Term Goals

To make a long story short: I need to use my muscles as much as possible in order to maximize my recovery.

For people who have quadriplegia, it is very difficult to maintain a healthy weight, simply because the muscles are not being used as they once were. To help with this, there is an exercise bike that places electrical pads on leg and arm muscles, which fire the muscles to contract and thus pedal the bike. This is called an FES bike.

The FES bike has huge health benefits, helping to prevent the cascade of health problems that are almost inevitable with a high level spinal cord injury……diabetes, weight gain, muscle spasms, bladder problems, cardiovascular deterioration, and loss of bone density.

Restorative Therapies is one of the leaders in FES technology and has developed the FES bike that would benefit me. You can check out the bike on their website at Restorative Therapies (RT300-SLSA leg and arm cycle)

Getting a FES was my first priority as it will help me to gain back a level of fitness that I lost due to a lack of physical therapy.  This will allow me to continue with my long term intensive physiotherapy goals.

And Second…..Long Term Goals

It is my goal to enroll, in 2009, in an intensive physiotherapy program. This type of physical therapy in combination with other medical treatments such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy and bioelectrical medical therapy would provide me with the best chance at recovery.

We are very excited to have found a physiotherapy clinic that provides the intensive physiotherapy needed for spinal cord injuries, in Victoria, BC.   It is called SCI Path and you can visit their website here.

This clinic offers one of the best intensive exercise therapy programs for spinal cord injuries, in Canada.  It is modeled after the very successful Project Walk clinics in the USA.  Patients work out at the clinic for however long it takes and their goal is to push you as hard as possible to recover as much as possible.

…UPDATE…

I did enroll in SCI Path and I really enjoy it and have already started  making big improvements. My next goal is to use a manual chair. I’ll let you know when I do.

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Finally…….Research Opportunities

There are also many recent exciting developments in spinal cord research that will be available for human trials within the next 5 years. One example is The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. To be eligible for this type of surgery and treatment, I must be at a healthy weight and be very physically fit.