To learn about Isaac’s story from the beginning, please read the first blog post in this series by clicking here.
Last week, we wrote about a recent patient named Isaac Darrell. Isaac was in a tragic diving accident that injured his spine and left him unable to use his legs. During his research, he began learning about epidural stimulation being offered to people worldwide, and he eventually decided that it was his best chance to regain control of his quality of life.
If you’ve read the first part of his story, you know that something quite amazing happened on the very first day they activated his stimulator. For the first time in four years, Isaac Darrell moved his legs. It was an incredible moment for him, and it gave him hope for the coming weeks.
So what happened next?
The young Canadian was doing well after his first day, which of course involved moving his legs and even standing using parallel bars. He was all smiles when he spoke to us at the rehabilitation hospital in Bangkok. It was now day two, and his doctors had begun the mapping process in order to calibrate Isaac’s device to offer better control over his movements. It’s an essential component in epidural stimulation for spinal cord injuries. And even though he knew that he had to be patient during the procedure, he was just excited to get back out there test it out.
He remarked that even though only 24 hours had passed, he felt more confident with his motion and he was able to stand for longer periods of time.
“…it was a lot more fun. I felt like I had more control and it wasn’t nearly as tiring” He remarked between sessions.
With the scary part behind him, Isaac was fully optimistic that he could achieve amazing results in the coming month. The entire team at the hospital was confident that he would do well and were ready to get him the next level of his physical therapy.
