C2 complete recovery rates?

[lorraine]

What are the recovery rates for C2 complete injuries, (if any)?

[metronycguy]

hi lorraine, i am glad you found your way here.

[cheesecake]

There are all kinds of stats, but stats are just the average. SCI is like a snowflake, each one is different. Do you know your ASIA type, ie. ASIA a,B, C or D? Complete vs incomplete? Any recovery thus far? ARe you central cord syndrome?
So many variables to consider. So much success is possible but much is the initial injury.

[dan_nc]

welcome lorraine. i hope you find the information you're looking for ... was someone you know recently injured? when was the diagnosis made?

[LaMemChose]

Hi, Lorraine. I'm sorry you've joined the club, but glad you found us. I'm Mem aka MaryEllen. **Hugs**

[teena]

Hi, Lorraine...

I'm Teena...nice to meet you. I don't have a SCI, but a good friend does.

Don't be afraid to ask questions...

Here at CareCure, you are in good company...A lot of nice folks here...

Hope your week goes well...

Take care, God bless...

Teena

[SCI-Nurse]

Everyone's injury is different. Many appear complete in the first day or days post injury, but end up incomplete. The longer the person goes with no return at all, the less likely it is that they are incomplete, but some return can occur for up to 2 years. It is impossible to say anything meaningful with the information you gave us above.

When did the injury occur?
How?
Where is the person getting their care?
Who did the exam to determine it was C2 complete?
Did the person get methylprednisilone immediately after the injury?

Even with this information, we can only give probability, which is not really very helpful with an individual.

(KLD)

[Wise Young]

Originally Posted by lorraine

What are the recovery rates for C2 complete injuries, (if any)?

Lorraine,

Christopher Reeve was a C1-2 injury with no neurological function below the injury site for at least a year or more after injury. He progressed to recover sensation over a major part of his body and ability to move a few muscles over several years. Unfortunately, he did not get off the respirator.

My advice to Christopher was to get a phrenic nerve or a diaphragm stimulator early. One should not wait too long because the diaphragm undergoes atrophy when it is being ventilated. Although the atrophy can be reversed, it may take a long time because the diaphragm is a big muscle and it takes a lot of effort and time to rebuild it.

The recovery by Christopher Reeve is said to be remarkable but I think that it has happened for some other people as well, particularly people who work at exercising their bodies. However, most people with complete C2 injuries do not recover very much. That is why I believe that regenerative therapies are necessary (which is of course the reason why we are all pushing so hard for clinical trials).

As most people on these forums know, I believe that there will be therapies that will improve recovery of function after spinal cord injury and that the main bottleneck right now is testing combination therapies in clinical trials.

Wise.

[Wise Young]

Originally Posted by SuzyQisforquad

Dr. Wise,
I'm a event dependents quad and one year post. I have been told about the pacer. How soon should I be having that surgery?
story, I'm just learning the voice recognition computer and I can't get it to say what I want .

Suzy, hello. I am so glad that you are on board. Many people here use Dragon and they can get posts up faster than I can with all ten fingers.

Regarding when you should get the pacing, I would suggest that it be done as soon as possible.

Wise.

[cheesecake]

Hi Folks~
Great to see all the new folks finding the site. SuzyQ and Lorraine, the phrenic pacer is a good option for some folks, for others it isn't. The new minimally invasive phrenic pacer is able to be done with [B]less[B] surgical complications and a faster recovery. This procedure is currently still in late clinical trials and is preformed at Case Western in Cleveland Ohio. The protocol is that you MUST be one year post injury to have the procedure done.

Christopher Reeve is one individual who had the procedure done, he was the third recepient. Before his death in October 2004, he was working on an essay about courage. In the essay, he spoke about his experience with the phrenic pacer. You can read about it here: http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4065&l=en

Since CR had the procedure, changes have been made and many others have had the surgery in his footsteps. A few here at CareCure have undergone the procedure. You might want to do a search. Read, ask, hope, remain steadfast. This is an exciting time in SCI research, sure beats 15 years ago when I was first injured.

For both of you, here is a link to a streaming video on hands-free computers:
http://streamed.wired.md/display2.pl...essButtons=yes

Best to both of you~
Cheesecake

P.S SuzyQ, I have some good info on environmental controls as well as hands free computers. Send me a PM is you want the info and I will email it to you.