Question about voluntary anal contraction

[ginamarie]

Hi All,

Although I rarely post, I have been reading this forum for months and find it very informative. I have a question. My husband is L1, supposedly Asia A, 4.5 months post. He can voluntarily contract his anus. It takes him a minute or two to figure out which muscles to use since he can't feel himself doing it. Then he can do it about 8 out of 10 times. He puts his fingers lightly over the area or a finger in during dig stim and then he can tell. Now from what I have read, this alone should make him incomplete. Is that accurate?

The Shepherd Center seems unwillingly to change his classification. I can't stand that place. They are great with quads, but with a para as low as my husband, their attitude is that since he can "easily" learn to function independently, what do you need legs for? He has steadily shown improvement. He has gotten his BCR back and can poop with minimal dig stim. He knows when he has to pee, but still cannot, so he IC's. He can move toes on his left foot consistently and on his right sometimes. He can move his right leg a bit. With his legs flat, you can see the knee come up if he tries to pull it to his chest. The left leg moves only slightly. He can squeeze his butt cheeks. He has normal sensory to L3 and then he is spotty to his ankles. He cannot feel his feet. He cannot feel the center of his butt. He is fused from T10 to L3. The center told him to stretch every day so that he would be able to dress in the wheel chair and did not give him any hope of recovery. They were stunned when he got the BCR back and have checked him for that at least 20 times (fun), because no one believes it. They were also stunned when he moved his toes. They told him today that he will not qualify for more PT until he can bring his knee all the way to his chest. Lucky for us, we try not to listen to them. My husband not only stretches everyday, buy he uses a Nustep for a couple of hours and an Easystand Glider along with a theraband and free weights. He had 5 blood clots in his legs early on but they seem to be better now and warfarin is the only prescription that he takes regularly. Just an occassional percocet. Maybe two per week. He is 56 years old and has always been in phenomenal shape, very athletic and has no other health problems.

I don't know why I added all this additional info, but I feel very frustrated and I guess I am hoping that someone will comment I what you think of all this and his condition. I value the opinion of everyone on this forum. Thank you.

[LaoziSailor]

Gina Marie,

I think what you posted is wonderful news. I'm a T4-T6 complete and the only thing I would check with your GP is the use of Warfarin. I use prescription pressure socks that go all the way to my knees. At fisrt it's tough to get them on and with a little experience it becomes second nature. It is also (according to my GP) a good substitute for the blood thinners.

Do as you are doing!

Cheers!

[graybeard]

Gina Marie...Take heart. Your husband in my opinion is incomplete. He will, in the coming months regain a good amount of use of his right leg. His left will be slower to recover and may not regain as much as the right. His ability to move toes is a good sign. I say all this because he is very close to where I was at 7months post. I'm T 7/8 inc,with a lot of movement regained in my right leg,but little movement to date on my left. I can wiggle my toes and flex my ankle some on my left,as well as move the leg in certain exercises on the powder board with no weight. I am now 11 months post,but dont have bowel control,must stim. Bladder I can void,but have high pressure in bladder,so must cath. I also take that warfarin for blood thinning,havent had any clots though. They also put a filter in my leg artery(I think thats where its at.) The venal caval artery. Its somewhere near my waist/hip area. Tell your man to keep with the workouts,he has a great chance at significant recovery. How much is anyone's guess,but I feel he will do well. I am not a doctor,it just wierd that his recovery is very close to how mine is going,except he is getting it back quicker,which is wonderful for the both of ya'll.Best of luck..John

[queen]

I'm 60 years old, with a burst L#1 on 5/20/04 at 150 lbs. I too was in great physical shape, but got down to 123 upon discharge from rehab. hosp. Rehab. was a waste so I started my own exercise routine. First on the bed, then the floor. I have the leg swinging equip. too with no or low impact on my knees and it helps my pelvic area and gait.

I didn't get my bladder back (ability to pee) until I was home about 3 months. My bowels were just lots of accidents. Hah. Now on zelnorm and glyco-lax and it's alot easier now. Your hubby is still fresh so limited on exercises. I was sent home with the (tet/ted) hose, wore them only a couple months tho (hated them). I had a birdcage put in between T12 and L2. I now walk with a cane. Still walk primarily on my less painful heels, and getting more strength in the balls and toes for balance. I'd say he's doing very well, heck I was still taking half a vicoden my 4th month home.

Best of luck! He'll start making some improvements, it just takes alittle more time (not much) for us.

Queen

[cali]

i can't remember if contraction makes you incomplete but i knoe sensation there def. does. if he's contracting i'd say incomplete but those tests in my opinion aren't as accurate as they could be. the reason i say that is because i can move muscles in my back and they don't count that as movement below your point of injury. i'm c6/7 inc. the fact that he can move his toes and legs slightly lowers his asia A. to what degree, i don't know.

[dan_nc]

voluntary contraction of the anal sphincter should be considered sacral sparing (motor), no?

[SCI-Nurse]

By definition- an ASIA A is when there is no motor or sensaton in the S4-5 sacral segments of the spinal cord. It sounds like your husband has some motor function, voluntary anal contraction. Focus on what he can do, keep up the great work and maximize what he can do.

JM