5 replies to this topic

[Scott's Mom]

Hi there! I'm new to this so please forgive my ignorance and I ask for your patience with what might seem to be "ignorant" questions. My son was paralyzed in a car accident 8-weeks ago. His surgeon said he was a T-5 complete with no chance of recovery of any sort. His feeling has dropped about six inches but that is it. We do daily stretching and nightly stretching and we usually see spasms only. Last night I checked on him while he was sleeping, I began to float his heels and stetch his toes. I did this very gently and quietly so that I wouldn't wake him. When I touched his right foot he lifted his leg, slowly laid it down and made sounds and movements like he was annoyed, he never woke up. I went in about two-hours later and tickled the bottom of his feet. Both responded as they did prior to his injury. They were clearly not a muscle spasm. Once again he made a few sounds as though he was going to wake up and was being annoyed by being tickled. When he woke up this morning I once again stretched him out but this time there was no response. When I tickled his feet there was no response. My question, what's going on? Not only did he physically respond to the stimuli in his feet and legs, he almost woke up from it. If he's a complete para, should his body be able to respond? If so, why doesn't he respond when he's awake? If anybody has any answers or has experienced a similar incident please let me know. I am going to keep a journal and I decided not to mention it to my son in fear he might get his hopes up. Thanks for your help.

[Joed]

My experience has been that I'll sometimes get involuntary movement upon stimulation (and sometimes even without). A slight touch along my foot and certain areas of my leg will elicit a strong upward movement of my foot and toes, even though I cannot sense being touched. I do, however, have some sense of the actual involuntary movement. It's just weird, and can be confusing. My therapists utilized that reflex response to help me recruit muscle groups during therapy...so it can be a beneficial thing, even in the absence of any real function return.

So if your son is attending PT, it may be a good idea to let them know what stimuli elicit a response.

Having said that....your son is still very early in recovery, so who knows what it could mean? There's always a place for hope. I think a journal is a good idea, as recovery is typically so slow, it's easy to lose sight of any improvements over time.

There are no 'ignorant' questions here....I've been known to give an ignorant answer or two , but all questions are valid and, to tell you the truth, it's one of the first questions I had about my condition post-SCI.

~Blessings

[Jilly]

Hi Scott's Mom....

My guy is T5 complete and his legs and feet will respond to a tickle too! He used to laugh at me when we first began going out as I was like a kid with a new toy! I'd run a fingernail along the length of the underside of his foot, and his toes would curl up and his whole leg would move away. I still have fun with it and he just sits there with a bored look on his face.

Its like a reflex action - many reflexes stay the same. You will probably find that the same movement is there when he is awake. 8 weeks isnt long so you are likely to see more improvements and changes for a while yet....and there is always hope.

How old is your son? Encourage him to come on here as well as you...he may have questions himself and\or want to get in touch of others that may face similar things to him.

Dont be scared of sounding ignorant or for asking questions that may seem silly....All of us have been where you are now....searching for answers and information....and we are happy to help. Ive been known to ask a few silly questions myself!!

[In The Wind]

Scotts Mom,
The doctors tell just about all of us the same thing. You’ll never recover. That’s because most of the people who do recover do so quickly, shortly after spinal shock and swelling reduce. Don’t believe a word of it. Our bodies share a basic underlying structure but the fine details vary tremendously, so any 2 injuries may be exact in gross detail, they will vary greatly in fine detail.

But the info they give you is based on bulk data, and that is what it is, i.e., they trend.

Here is what I have found with my own injury.

I am a C-5, C-7 incomplete. I can tell what toe is being touched and I can move the toes on my left foot strongly and weakly on the right. Thighs (Quads) and calves also, BUT, it seems to depend very much on position AND “sensory interference”, meaning that if I’m getting lots of stimulus from some part of a leg, I can’t move anything. Yet that same leg, when quiet will move pretty much as I want it to.

Also, because of the way our bodies are built, you may (will) find that touching one area will evoke a response, yet another area a fraction of a millimeter away will not. So, if you want to do some interesting experiments, mark the areas that respond with an indelible marker while he’s sleeping, and compare that to what happens when you stretch him.

I have to ask, since your son is only 8 weeks out, why is he not in rehab?

[Avocado Baby]

I don't really have anything to add but just to say that I'm the same as Joed. I can feel the spasms in my lower body cos they jolt me so I expect that is why your son reacted.

I get spasms when I'm in pain with my back or I touch or tickle my legs. I always notice and have a joke with the physio that when he is mobilising my neck my legs start jumping around really visciously in reaction the pain! The top half of me is brave and keeps quet but my legs say OOOOUUUUUCH!'

[itsjustme]

Hi Scotts Mom,

I was told that I was complete, T2, then I could move my toes, then my foot, now I can pick my left leg up off of the bed however I still can't feel it so the fact that I can move it still doesn't do me any good when I can't feel it to know where it is to use it.

On the other hand I was in an auto accident when I was 15 and my right arm was broken and paralyzed however I had the tiniest bit of movement in the tip of my thumb so the doctors were hopeful. It took almost a full year but the nerves in my arm regenerated and my arm recovered.

What I am adding to this is that sometimes, lots of the time, most of the time, the doctors don't really know to what degree our bodies are going to recouperate. I've run into countless people who were told that they would never walk again and they are and there are countless of us who are not walking.

I'm looking at my dear cousin across the street right now working in her flower garden, who the doctors wanted to pull the plug on after a devastating bought with a kidney disease and 2 strokes had left her in what THEY believed was a vegetative state. She was also paralyzed when she came out of her 2 month coma.

DON'T GIVE UP! Help him. Work with him. You don't need false hope. There is plenty of REALISTIC hope.