31 December 2017

Wishing you all a "Cureful" New Year!

As we're about to start 2018, I'd like to send you all a quick message saying thank you for all your support over the years. This blog has had it's ups and downs, mostly based on my health, but I thank the regular readers for your encouragement over the years.

The blog started in 2010 and even though I'm still writing about the search for a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and I am still hopeful that a cure will be found. Some say that even if a cure can't help them because they've been injured for so long, they hope that it will help others. This is very  noble, but while I want a cure for all, I still have hope that I too will be included in this cure.


21 December 2017

We need more info about BBS return and epidural stimulation


Hello everyone. I've spent the past weeks trying to craft together some questions about BBS (bladder, bowel, sexual function) return to ask to Dr Susan Harkema's team involved in epidural stimulation trials. My time was not only spent writing, but consulting with other activists in the community as I wanted to make sure that my questions were both correct and fair. 

As you may know, the trial, with many sponsors including CDRF (Christopher and Donna Reeve Foundation), and marketed under the BigIdea (which I think is wonderful marketing) has produced two papers and has put out some information about BBS return. 

See the last two posts for more information about the trials and my interest in them.


09 December 2017

"An unexpected success story". Really? I'd like more info. PART II


Just so you know, this post is Part II. If you haven't yet read it, Part I is here.

It took me a little time to get back to Part II as I've been waiting on some information. It hasn't all arrived yet, but I figure I'll get down what information I can now.


Sine it's been a few weeks I'll make a short round up of Part I...
  • Epidural stimulation trials on standing and stepping at the University of Louisville, supported by the Christopher & Donna Reeve Foundation (CDRF), receive new press attention after the lead researcher Susan Harkema published a paper with her results.
  • But more importantly, already as early as October 2014 (and probably before that too), the CDRF website reported that, "Even more surprisingly, all four participants experienced significant improvements in autonomic functions, including bladder, bowel and sexual function, as well as temperature regulation."