Sometime ago I met a very engaging, cheerful young lady three years after her stroke enrolled in one of the FES trials. We walked with her through her journey thus far. Being a swimmer and a marathon runner prior to her stroke put her in an advantegous position as she was a quick learner who worked very hard and knew the importance of regular exercise. As our instructor Mr. B pointed out she was someone they would have to ask to stop pushing herself so hard and slow down. She doesn't even live in this city but comes down for her therapy sessions four times every week. She was happy with her progress. When she related that she had developed an aphasia along with her weakness, I was amazed because she was speaking so normally! I have always known that a lot depends upon how much patients want to get better but since I hadn't seen many patients outside the acute inpatient setting, it was heartening to see reamarkable recovery and a testimony to will power. She had 5 implanted electrodes in the muscles of her rigth leg which weren't being used presently. I saw her work her way to almost normal components of gait with the help of FES. Having experienced the unpleasant sensations of FES, I was amazed to see how she was using it so effortlessly and beautifully! She would break into an easy smile with a compliment from Mr.B about how well she was doing and knew exactly when she wasn't doing a good job. I liked the way she was tuned in providing herself feedback! No wonder she was doing so well!
She told us about her brother who was in medical school and wanted to become a neurologist as well. As we parted ways, she wished me luck. I couldn't help but thank her for teaching us so much in just a couple of hours!
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