When Shawn Doyle suffered a stroke six years ago at age 46, it left him with impaired speech and paralysis of his right side.
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Like Shawn, Joe Breiner understands all too well the difficulty of recovering from a stroke. He was stricken when he was just 6-years- old.
The stroke left the muscles in his right arm tightly curled up and awkwardly sticking out to the side, which made the arm unusable.
He thought he was beyond help until he met Dr. John McGuire of Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin.
"We didn't have this when Joe had his stroke. If we were able to do this stuff when he had his stroke, I bet he'd be doing a lot more than he is doing now," he said.
Joe's problem was twofold, so the solution was twofold as well. First, Botox was injected every three months deep into the muscle tissue in his legs and arm in order to relax the muscles.
Then a hand rehabilitation system called the Bioness H200 is used. The device, which was approved for use in April 2004, electrically stimulates the muscles of the hand, so it is retrained to open and close.
More than 1,000 patients are currently using the H200 at home, with hundreds more using it as part of their therapy in 354 facilities across the country. The results have been truly amazing, especially to Joe's children.
He can now, "give them hugs, play games with them easier than it has been in the past," he said.
And his wife said the therapy has improved the family's life.
"It's strengthened us. It's strengthened our family," Maureen Breiner said. "Our children, well he can swing them up with both hands and things like that."
It's telling especially since just a few years ago, Joe couldn't even open his hand. Now he can not only open his hand, but he has picked up a new hobby — golf.
Joe said doctors have told him, "The sky is the limit."
"We are very, very hopeful," he said. For more information on the Bioness H200, click here.
For more information on The Callier Center for Communication Disorders, click here.
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