[hillarymcarter]

It is possible. Did she have back surgery? If there were no internal injuries then it is possible for her to already be up. The quicker you can get up the better because the longer you lay in bed the more your muscles atrophy and it will be more difficult to get up because of dizziness, etc. She will have to have additional rehab outside of the hospital. After she is discharged from the primary hospital she will most likely go to a rehab facility where whe will stay for a month or so. Then she will probably continue with outpatient rehab once she is discharged from there.

[hillarymcarter]

That is really remarkable. The faster she can get going, the easier rehab will be for her. It sounds like she will do very well. Good Luck!

[Chilepepper]

After my accident in 1978/1979, they of course did surgery then I was put on a striker bed for a month or so. That was pure hell. Every two hours they would put a board on top of me then put the strap around me and the board so that you are like sandwiched between the two boards and then they would turn me. Just a terrible bed.... So it's refreshing to hear that they are getting the person up out of bed as soon as possible. It only makes sense because the earlier you can get the person up the better for the circulation going to the body. This of course speeds the healing process. All the best for you friend curious mind, and I hope she is able to stand once again soon.

Here is a site to view the bed.
http://www.public.asu.edu/~gimpy/The_Strik...Bed_Photo_1.htm

[hillarymcarter]

Yikes! That looks like a midevil torture device!
I remember when the respiratory "terrorists" would come give my husband his CPT treaments they would bend his bed back (with his head down) and the bed would start shaking him...it always made me cry!
I always wonder what people will think 100 years from now about our medical treatments!

[carolline]

Whoa............chilipepper you've been from ironic stage of healing process.
Good that you've got it over(cervical operation) it's difficult to manage for us also like your case.Specially when it comes to hygiene coz there's a movement limitation to your neck.I like what you've said about the stricker bed # 7 sound funny...when lying on your stomach looking at the floor and your friend opted to lie on the floor looking up to you....

Back to Curious Mind......
Early moving for her..get out of bed,sit on a wheelchair...will have a lot of benefits for her.It will prevent complications like pulmonary embolism,muscle atropy(as hillary said) and the circulation of blood.Nice to hear that your friend is cooperating with it.Regards to her.

[Chilepepper]

Hi Carolline

That website of the striker bed with the person in it is not of me. It is just a website that I found for someone who wanted to know what that bed was all about. Those beds were used for quad and par patients. Myself I'm T9 incomplete para.

Just wondering as I’m writing this, does anybody know if they still use these bed at all. Or I guess I should say have you ever seen one recently in a hospital or rehab. Just wondering because I know we have come so far in such a short time in the way to better improve a Spinal cord injury person.

[carolline]

..sorry for that I thought that pic was you..coz you got injured around late 70's.And that pic was old black and white...that's why I thought it was you.

In our hospital were not using that kind of bed,we do'nt have either.except from those different kinds of matress and chairs.What we're using now is a tilting table,fluid airbed for those having very bad sore,KCI bed it has a programed functions such as turning from side to side,checking weight on bed,pulsation like massaging while patient strictly bed rest for how many weeks and can put on desired time.But as we doing here we need to move our patient's as early as possible after surgery,and the patient is in stable conditon.The reason is to prevent those complications.

[russ1]

The speed thing sounds about right - I had about 7-8 hours of surgery to insert stabilising metalwork and fuse the spine back together wednesday and was up in a chair the following wednesday a week later. About 2 1/2 years ago now.

Blood pressure went through the floor and I'd all but pass out every time I was put in a chair for months (even with drugs) but I did get used to it.

[Bob Clark]

I was paralyzed back in '79 too. They first used a worse type of Striker frame with me, one that I passed out on. This type stands you up as it turns you and the blood rushes from your brain knocking you out. I remember the first time they tried it. They slowly started raising my head and at about a 30 degree angle I told them I was gonna pass out. They told me to hang in there. Upon awakening they apologized for not believing me!

Then they put me on a side-to-side type Striker frame like the one linked to and it was much better. Then I guess someone left the Post Intensive Care Unit and freed up a brand new type of bed that just constantly rotated sideways back and forth probably up to a 30 or 40 degree angle. It was called a "Roto-Rest". It was roto but you didn't get much rest in it. It had 3 "secret" doors in it so they could do the bowel program thing and check for pressure sores etc. They didn't tie my left leg down properly and it flopped back and forth for a day or two. It put a rather large blood blister on the bottom of my foot and my knee was swollen full of fluid which they drained with a very large syringe. I knew I was paralyzed then when I couldn't feel them insert that monster!

I don't think they use those old-style Striker frames in this country anymore. Maybe just for emergencies. But I'd bet they're still in use in many Third-World countries.

[hillarymcarter]

I'm not sure I understand the point of them? Are they simply to turn you without moving your back? Those are horrible guys....sorry you had to go through that! I'm sure in about 30 years I'll be thinking the same thing about some of the stuff Bruce did!

[Bob Clark]

Hi Hillary,

They're for keeping your body from moving until the bones in your spine fuse together and for preventing pressure sores. Also, the doctors and nursing staff gets a kick outta seeing just how much torture and abuse a patient can take! Just kiddin'.

[Chilepepper]

Lets just hope that in 30 years the medical profession will have salved the mystery of the spinal cord and the wheelchair will be obsolete, because nobody with have to use one.

But for the purpose for those contraptions is to have the spine stable and at the same time prevent pressure sore. This is why they would turn every some many hours.

[Chilepepper]

Just took another look at that picture that Bob posted and it looks like something out of a horror movie. I could just imagine what my friends thought when see me for the first time after my accident and I'm in this freaky contraption.

[Joed]

Curious Mind...

I agree that, if the spine is now stablized with hardware or whatever, it's probably right on track to be put in a w/c asap. Back when I was a kid, a fusion meant at least 3 months flat on my back with a body cast from the back of my head, under my jaws, to my knees. Now kids are up and walking within the week. Very cool.

I did the Stryker thing twice as a kid. I remember they ran a few 'practice' sessions with me before my surgery, so it wouldn't be so scary later.

Oh, but get a nurse who hesitates at that crucial moment in the flip....OUCH! At Shriner's Hospital, I actually went to school in one of those.

They had me in a "Cyclatron" (I think that's what it was called?) bed after my surgery in '03. It's oval-shaped and filled with very fine sand which is blown around, creating a 'forgiving' surface. It was really quite comfortable, but too confining in its small size.

When they turned the air off, the sand would settle down into a surface as hard as concrete. It apparently was a relatively new thing, because groups of interns were constantly being brought in to see my bed, and of course, to demonstrate they invariably turned the air off. I remember telling all of them...you'd better get your feelies in real quick, because laying on this rock is hell.

[hillarymcarter]

Those Clinitron beds are awesome! Bruce had one after his flap surgery....they sure do get VERY hard when you turn them off! When he would get up I would lay on..it feels funny because there is air going up your bum!

[Joed]

Yes, Clinitron...that's it! Thanks, Hillary.

Hmmm...The air on the bum thing must've totally slipped by me. No wonder I kept having 'those dreams'.

[carolline]

we got that bed here in the hosp. Clinitron bed,But when It need to repair I checked the name on the tab asset number and property name.It labelled FLUID AIR...Man this made me confused.But it's really awesome...specially for those having a bad sore.You can feel the bubbles running on the bed and it contains a smooth powder.I remember when our patient..used it and I checked him in the morning...I thought he was sleeping coz he covered his whole body with the blanket.Then suddenly...he openned it,Whoa!!!! I'm scared..to him.Coz he looked like rolled from the lava.Coz the clinitron bed was leaked and all the powder sticked on his body,and he does'nt know that
Here we're using it..without linen on the top of it,then patient will lay on it.So that it will be more effective the use of that bed.

And wait it giving us a hard time to push it inside the patient's room.Soooooo...heavy dunno what's the weight of it.It needs 4 mens to push that bed.And if there's no men around us....it needs 5-6 ladies

[hillarymcarter]

He he! We had one bust while we were in the hospital too...messy!
The beds are made to be used without linens on it. They also need to be used with a dry flow blue pad so that air circulates to the booty!
They actually became available in homes last year.
We had one and the temp got stuck on like 98...Bruce almost cooked!

[ASHLEYTHOMPSON]

John was on a clinitron after his flap surgeries. I slept in it with him at the hospital. Very warm and cozy. You can adjust the temperature. I wish medicare would pay for a full size home edition. It looked like a submarine on the outside. They're awesome for pressure sore healing. Maybe we should invent a clinitron wheelchair cushion. Hmmmm, Let me get to the drawing board. I smell moulaaa.

[hillarymcarter]

I meant last month....became available last month

[hillarymcarter]

Partner????
That is a cool idea! The only drawback is that I don't know how well you could balance on one! Man, that would be awesome...no more pressure sores!
Bruce is trying to invent spinners for wheelchairs. You know what I'm talking about...when you quit moving the spinners in the wheels keep moving around...like fiddy cent or p diddy!

[ASHLEYTHOMPSON]

john said that he saw spinners on a wheelchair in Lil John video.