Rob: Life is hard enough, but add on a serious disability and it becomes
almost impossible.
As we continue our look at innovation, our Brian Bendele shows us how one
Oklahoman is taking the necessary steps to regain control of one of the most
basic of all functions, putting one foot in front of the other.
Brian: For most of us, we don't have to think before taking the next step.
We don't have to focus on our hands, just to pick up an object.
Yet for Angela Traxler of Tuttle, Oklahoma, those simple tasks have become
obstacles she has to overcome.
Angela Traxler: Everybody takes it for granted; I don't care.
Just to be able to go to Wal Mart, it was just an awesome feeling not to
have to wear my brace, and not have to think about every step.
Thinking about every step is hard.
Brian: Angela suffers from the effects of a surgery to correct a
cavernous heangioma, or more commonly a type of brain bleed,
in November of 2005.
The surgery stopped the bleed but left her unable to utilize the left side
of her body efficiently.
Now, 34-year-old Angela deals with the same inabilities of someone
suffering from a stroke.
Traxler: Like, brushing your teeth, I don't brush with my left hand, but you
have to hold it to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush.
Brian: Angela is a young mother of two, and is the reason why her own mother,
Pam Sparks, has never given up hope, even when doctor's in Oklahoma City
said that there was nothing left for them to do.
Pam Sparks: We said, there's got to be
something else to help her.
She's too young to just give up and say that's the life you have.
Brian: And that is when they met Bob.
Robert Eskew: I think that is one of the most enjoyable parts of
physical therapy, is you get to be a problem solver.
Brian: Owner and operator of Physical Rehabilitation Associates in Oklahoma
City, Robert Eskew knows Angie's plight, as he was born with cerebral palsy.
Eskew: I actually tried to do this in college,
and actually think about the way I was walking.
The problem with that is, walking shouldn't be an
activity that you have to think about.
Brian: Leading both to turn to an old form of medicine
that is packaged in a new way.
Nathan Foreman: Electrical stimulation has been used in therapy for 30-35 years
now, so the research has been out there.
It largely hasn't been used in clinics, just because the technology is
somewhat constraining as far as just the reproducibility of getting
the same response every single time.
It's a little time intensive on setup.
Brian: Nathan Foreman, with Bioness Incorporated, has fitted Angela with
state-of-the-art hand and leg devices.
While walking, the Intellisense gait sensor detects gait events and
transmits wireless signals to synchronize the electrical pulses
delivered by the electronic orthosis.
These pulses activate the nerve that causes the foot to lift off the ground at
the appropriate time during gait.
Brian: These apparatuses have allowed her to move around with confidence,
something she hasn't been able to do for over two years.
What's the first thing you want to be able to do?
Angela: I wanted to run.
That's the first thing that I want to learn how to do.
Being in therapy, they've got me at two miles an hour, and that's walking
pretty darn fast.
Brian: Angela was also fitted with a hand device, allowing her to open
fingers and pick up objects with her left hand,
where before, it was closed shut.
Angela: I had to cut my fingernails, because
the fingernails would go into the skin.
Brian: Foreman says this technology works well with people who suffer from
other brain or spinal cord injuries and strokes.
Studies show the technology has helped retrain the brain to
perform these functions by itself.
Foreman: We've had several folks, that at least, anecdotally,
your just, you know, case by case basis that are graduating from the
devices; absolutely.
It's something that they get the help with the timing and they get the
help with the muscle recruitment right off the bat, and then hopefully
that muscle gets stronger in that process, and you know, really the whole
self stimulating process comes along and they do it; they are graduating
from the devices.
Brian: Physical Rehabilitation Associates is currently the only
place in Oklahoma that is using Bioness extensively.
And, as far as Angela is concerned, the spark she gets from the device
is a spark of hope.
Angela: There's no word to explain it.
It's just wonderful.

Rob: Now we first met Angela back during the holidays.
How's she doing now?
Brian: Well, she's doing better.
She's actually recovering from a second brain bleed surgery that she
suffered from earlier.
She's at Mercy Hospital doing physical therapy and responding really well to
this new technology.
Rob: It sounds as if her situation is really quite complex.
Brian: It is.
The surgery that she had to have, they did it in Phoenix, Arizona, with a
special surgeon, and he said the complexity of this surgery, one out of
ten was a ten, and she was able to walk away from it within four days.
Rob: So, this technology sounds fairly revolutionary.
I guess the most important question, is it covered by insurance?
Brian: In most cases.
It is FDA approved which is what a lot of insurances want to see;
they're not going to want to cover you on experimental stuff.
Now, this is fairly new, like you said.
In 2003, the hand device came out; and in 2007, the leg device came out.
But, it is FDA approved, so it's out there for a lot of people than can
utilize it.
Rob: Well, we certainly wish Angela well; and please, keep us posted.
Brian: Will do.