Physical Therapy

Here is Josh with his new braces. Right now he is walking in the "locked-knee" mode. The next video shows him with one knee unlocked.

This is a taste of what is to come. It's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication, but Josh is ready for it.

Physical Therapy

Here is what we've been waiting for. Here is Josh in his NEW leg braces. It will take some time to get used to the knees bending and not supporting his weight. Right now they have one leg straight and one that bends. He is a little frustrated right now since it demands more concentration to position the leg and foot properly to get the knee mechanism to do its job. He'll get it with a little time.

Once he gets this down, he will be able to spend more time up out of his chair so he doesn't have to deal with skin break-down. Not a pretty sight!

Physical Therapy

This contraption takes a person from a sitting position to a standing position and then allows them to move their legs. This was the first time that Josh tried it. He will most likely be using many more times.

Sorry about the crick in your neck. I will make sure my camera is positioned correctly so you don't end up having to see a chiropractor!

Video of Therapy...
At Last

I did my research and found a way to put video of Josh's therapy on this site. Yippy!!! Now you can see him in action!

Josh has been working very hard and is progressing very well. Josh has kept up his weight training after his accident and that has been a great asset. He is able to do more than the others that don't have his upper-body strength.

Today he got to use his new leg-braces. They bend at the knee automatically just when they should bend during normal walking. Josh was so proud of the fact they he was able to use the braces in this automatic setting on the first day after getting the braces. I guess the others have all had to use the "straight-legged" position for about a month before using them in the bending mode. He walked at least half way around the track with those braces, which is around 280 feet. What an exciting day.

I plan on watching Josh on Friday and if I don't forget to take the camera, I will get some video of Josh in his new braces. I can't wait!

Sue

Physical Therapy

This is called a Giger Pro. It works Josh's legs to help create new nerve pathways to the brain to get Josh walking again.

Physical Therapy

Sorry this is side-ways. I will have to remember to take my videos in "landscape" mode so it will apprear correctly.

If you cock your head to one side you will see how BUFF Josh is!

Physical Therapy

Josh does exercises on the equipment in the gym part of the Champion Sports facility.

Physical Therapy

Josh is crawling forward up the ramp. He was able to crawl backwards first. So, this is quite an accomplishment to go forward UP a ramp. Yes, we see you Josh! Nice job! Keep it up!!!!!

Physical Therapy

Josh is crawling on his own backwards up a ramp during physical therapy. This is the easiest way for him to crawl so he can do it quickly.

Chrysler 300M Special

THERAPY AT CHAMPION SPORTS

Josh is doing a great job at crawling. At first he could only crawl backwards. Then he started crawling backwards faster. Now he is crawling forward. For some reason they all can crawl backwards before forwards. Go figure!

They do their crawling on a ramp, so they are either crawling up the incline or down it. Josh wears a brace around his middle (to support his trunk), knee pads, and fleece shoe coverings to make his shoes slide easier. The fleeces have U of M logos on them. I asked the therapist what if a patient was a die-hard State fan; they may not want to wear the rival booties? I guess the therapist is a State fan, but the patients just have to wear what is there. The bootie maker must be a U of M fan. Josh likes U of M, so there is no problem here.


Josh also works out on the machines in the sports complex. He lifts weights and works on his abs every week. On Wednesdays he is in the pool. This past Wed. I came early and saw him in the pool. He was hanging onto a flotation device and was moving his legs back and forth. It is so much easier to move in the water. He then swam around the pool. The first time a therapist took him into the pool (last year), I was very nervous. She let go of Josh and let him figure things out for himself. She even kept her distance so Josh could work things out himself. Being a good loving mom that I am, I would have held onto him so that he wouldn't drown. But he didn't. I guess the therapist knew what she was doing.







Whew!
That one's done!




Our digital camera takes short video clips and if I can figure out how to upload those to this site, then you can see Josh is ACTION!


Until then, tootles.

Sue

THE CAR !!!
It's a Chrysler 300M Special!!!

Josh has admired this car for about 3-4 years now. It was owned by some friends at our church and Josh and the owner would joke around how it would be Josh's some day. Well, about a week ago, it became reality.

Josh has decked it out with a new cool (fluorescent blue lights) stereo system and a huge speaker in the trunk. Oh yeah! You can hear the beat in the house even with the windows shut! Oh, the things that make teenagers happy! Now we have to get hand-controls put in and get the driver's license and he is good to go.

We will have to get a picture for you real soon. It's a real nice looking car.

Sue

NEW LEG BRACES
On Friday, June 2nd, Josh had molds made of his legs in order to have the special braces made. He should be getting them very soon. These braces will help him to practice walking in a more normal way. They have special mechanisms at the knee so that they unlock when the knee normally would bend when walking. Since therapy started in February, he has been using straight-legged braces that stay locked at the knee.

During therapy Josh works on crawling, walking with the assistance of leg braces and a walker, weight-training, balance exercises on a mat or ball, therapy in the pool, and therapy with various other machines that work his leg muscles in hopes new nerve pathways will develop where the old ones were damaged.

Sorry I haven't updated this in awhile. Life happens!

Sue

PISTONS GAME

Tomorrow (Wed.) Eric, Josh, Kristi, and a couple friends are going to a Pistons Game in Auburn Hills at The Palace. They are all pretty excited! They will be getting back very late tomorrow night. What a great memory this will make.

Therapy is going very well. Josh is still working on the same things. It will take lots and lots of repeated exercising of the muscles to make progress. The day WILL come when Josh will walk again!!!

Josh did have a painful mishap at therapy yesterday. He accidentally dropped a weight on his pinky finger. OUCH!!! It split the skin and it really bled. Right after he left therapy we stopped at the pharmacy next door to pick up butterfly bandaids and a splint to protect it from getting bumped. It seems to be doing much better today. It still hurts, but it looks better.

Sue

PRAYER

Just to keep things real...our family could really use prayer right now. We have four teenagers with modern-day teenage problems. There is a spiritual war going on in this world and the battleground is smack dab in the middle of our family. Pray that Eric and I will have the Godly wisdom to bring peace and maturity in our kids' hearts. Pray that our kids will see past themselves to become a positive contribution to this spiritually war-torn world.

Thank you,
Sue

THERAPY AT CHAMPION SPORTS IN ROCKFORD, MI

Josh started therapy at Champion Sports a couple weeks ago. It is a branch of the therapy at the Rehab. Institute of Michigan over in Detroit. We have already seen great progress.

Eric went with Josh to therapy today. I got a really excited call while I was at work today. Eric just couldn't wait to tell me that Josh "walked" 310 feet with only one rest.

"Walked" means he wore special leg braces and used a walker to "walk" the 310 feet. The leg braces have a special (and very expensive) mechanism that allows the knee to lock and unlock so he can walk in a normal fashion. I asked Eric if he thought Josh was really doing the work or if the braces were. He said it looked like Josh was using his own muscles to make his legs move.

Josh's old leg braces stayed locked at the knee until he was ready to sit down, which meant he "walked" stiff-legged. He would have to swing both his legs forward as he used his upper body strength to lift himself up. It was very exhausting. Josh was extremely frustrated with the old ones since they didn't allow him to "walk" in a normal fashion. He saw them as useless and hardly ever used them, even though it was a small step toward "walking" and allowed him to be up in a standing position.

The old braces are very heavy and cumbersome. The new ones are light and should be a lot easier to move. I don't know how they can expect paralyzed people to move their legs with HEAVY braces on them. Sounds a little ridiculous to me, but I guess they had to start somewhere. I am so glad for all this new technology... and right when we need it!

We now need to purchase Josh's own pair of these special leg braces. They are really expensive. We are in the process of getting them approved by Josh's physiatrist (rehab. doctor) and then need approval from our insurance. The braces cost a little over $13,000. Told you they were expensive, but very necessary for this therapy to work. Please pray that they will be approved by the physiatrist and the insurance. They have been very generous already, but we need them to "come through" for the equipment needed for the therapy.

Just had to tell you the good news. We were so ready for some good news.
We'll keep you posted,
Sue

LOCAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
THIS WEEKEND

The Grand Rapids local tournament is this coming weekend on Saturday and Sunday. If you want to see Josh play, this is your chance. I don't know his exact schedule yet, but I do know that the games start at 3:00 pm on Saturday. They usually start earlier in the day, but due to a mistake the school made they have to start later in the day. Here are the details:

Place: Byron Center High School (corner of Burlingame and 84th St.)
Time: Saturday starting at 3:00 PM, (Josh plays at 4:35 pm and 7:45 pm). On Sunday it starts at 9:00 am. (Josh plays at 10:45 am)

We hope to see you there. It should be very interesting since Josh is playing like a pro now!

Basketball

Josh had games in Wisconsin last weekend. They won two out of three games and ended up qualifying for Nationals. Nationals are in March and they are in Texas. Eric and I didn't go to the games since we had other committments last weekend, but we heard all about it when Josh got home. He scored around 30 points all weekend and made about half of them just in one game. He is really getting the hang of coordinating dribbling, pushing wheelchair, shooting from a sitting position, and balancing in the chair since he has very little trunk (ab) control. I guess it all came together last weekend and we weren't there to see it. We can all see it the first weekend in February when we have home games at Byron Center High School. I hope everyone can make it.

REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF MICHIGAN (RIM)
The day has finally arrived!


Josh and I (Sue) went to Detroit today for an evaluation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM). Josh IS a candidate for their type of therapy. Their therapy is the next step after traditional therapy (which gets you efficient with the condition you are in. In Josh's case, Mary Free Bed got Josh efficient in a wheelchair). But now it is time for that next step - WALKING!!!

This therapy allows the therapist to work Josh's leg muscles so that new nerve pathways are created where the old ones have ceased to work. They call this "reorganizing" nerve pathways. Our bodies, brains, and nervous systems are quite amazing. They are capable of much more than anyone thought and these doctors and therapist are taking advantage of the body's untapped resources to help people to regain lost functions. This will not be a quick fix. This type of therapy takes lots of hard continuous work. Traditional therapy sessions are about 45-60 minutes long, two or three times a week. This therapy is three hours long, three to five times a week. It takes a major commitment. We will have to work something out with his school since he would have to go during school hours. Most likely he will have therapy in the afternoons (1-4 pm). And as I have mentioned before, the Institute has recently opened a branch in Rockford (just 20 minutes north of Grand Rapids) which provides a much closer facility for us to access.

Josh most likely won't start until January or later. He is on the waiting list. As soon as they hire more therapists, they will be able to get these patients off the waiting list and into therapy!

Josh wasn't shy and asked if he could try out this piece of equipment. It suspends Josh so that his legs don't have to support him. Then the therapist helped him move his legs in a "normal" walking fashion which would help reorganize his nerve pathways. In a regular therapy session Josh would be wearing leg braces. Josh has leg braces and a walker that he has used in therapy, but RIM has more hi-tech leg braces that actually "unlock" the knees when you would normally bend your knee during normal walking. Josh's braces stay locked at the knee until he is ready to sit down. We need a pair of those "expensive" hi-tech braces. They would be a better fit for "normal" walking. That has been Josh's goal from the beginning. He feels like someone is finally listening to him and letting him do the kind of therapy that he wants.