Community
Research and You
Before her spinal cord injury, Donna’s life was pretty typical. She was married, had a 4-year old son, and worked full time as a corporate reference librarian. Donna needed surgery to relieve pressure caused by herniated disks in her neck, and planned for 6 weeks leave to recover. When she awoke after surgery however, she was totally paralyzed. “All I could do was shrug my shoulders. I was out of work for a year and I was in and out of physical therapy for 23 years. It was loss of independence that was the hardest to accept,” Donna recalled.
Encouraged by her son, “my little cheerleader”, Donna was motivated to stay in physical therapy. Then she found out about a clinical research study aimed at helping people with spinal cord injury regain mobility. She volunteered to participate at Kessler Foundation Research Center, which is one of six centers offering activity-based therapy as part of the NeuroRecovery Network, a national initiative of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. “It’s a wonderful program,” Donna said.
Activity-based therapy relies on locomotor training on a treadmill to retrain the spinal cord to the pattern of walking. Donna’s training consisted of sessions of an hour of assisted walking on the treadmill 5 days a week followed by a half hour of over ground walking. After months of therapy, she has improved her mobility and helped her gain greater independence while helping researchers establish treatment regimens that will benefit a range of people with paralysis. “It has done wonders for me. I can get up and down stairs better, my walking is better; everything is a little more efficient, so it’s not so fatiguing to get things done,” Donna said.
Summing up her experience at Kessler Foundation Research Center, Donna advised, “With a little focus and a lot of hard work, you can accomplish what you want to do and that’s important no matter who you are or what you’re trying to do.” For others with spinal cord injury, she suggests, “… learning about any centers that have the NRN program and other clinical or research programs. If you keep moving, you will benefit in the long run.“
Interested in participating in a research study? Check out what studies are currently accepting participants.