Heather that is fantastic! Anything, anything at all that can improve our condition is worth the time, pain and money.... So many of my friends called me about it after it was on the Today show. According to my neuro here I have MS. Not so says John Hopkins. But I do take a shot of copaxone every day ... my sort of "insurance card " as my neuro refers to it. I am going to start searching the web to see if I can find it here in the Washington D.C. area... Will keep you updated! Thanks for replying and again I am so happy for you! Trudy
On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 10:47 PM, Pieter and Heather <pieterheat...@shaw.ca>wrote: > Trudy, > > I have a device similar to the one shown on the Today show. The one on the > show is by Bioness. > > The one I am using is called a WalkAide. It is a different company and > looks a bit different. My device if I had to purchase it would cost me > $4500. However, I am in a 3 year Clinical Trial that is being run here in > Alberta Canada. I only had to pay $500. > > For me it helps lift my toes and is strengthening my ankle. I have been > using it since May of 2008. There is no way I could climb mountains etc but > I can now walk much better and somewhat faster. I still use my cane when I > am out and about even with this device. However, I am not as afraid of > tripping anymore. > > *The biggest thing I find is that my leg is definitely not as tired when I > am walking*. > > The clinic I go to now has only 9 people using it. There are actually 2 of > us with TM using it. The others either have MS or have had a stroke. > > When I was first tested to see if I was a candidate they had to be able to > find the peripheral nerve in the leg to see if there was still > 'communication' between it and my lower leg. If that nerve connection is > not there then you are not a good candidate. > > When I was tested last spring I was only the 3rd (at that time) out of 13 > people they had tried the testing with. So not everyone can use it. > > In the beginning it felt like I was being stabbed by a darning needle every > time the electrode stimulated my leg. I wondered what I had gotten myself > into. However, after a couple of weeks we finally found the right spot and > now it just feels like a sort of 'river of sensation' (the only way I can > explain it) down my leg from the point of stimulation to the ankle. It does > not hurt. The settings go from zero to 8. The best setting for me is at > 4. Each person is different. > > I know that there are clinical trials for this device called the WalkAide > in certain States in the USA. In Canada, Alberta is the only province at > present who is trialing this device. I feel very fortunate to be part of > the trial and very happy that I was able to use it. I no longer have that > pain in my hip from 'hip-hiking' that required me to have cortizone shots > every 6 months or so for the pain. > > I'm not sure if my ankle will be strengthened or 'trained' in 3 years but > it would be lovely it that happens. > > Heather in Calgary > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Trudy Ogilvie <mother...@gmail.com> > *To:* Tmic-list@eskimo.com > *Sent:* Tuesday, January 27, 2009 11:06 AM > *Subject:* [TMIC] Today Show > > Please take a look and tell me what you think?? Click on the woman with > the MS story to tell...... > > http://today.msnbc.msn.com/ > >
