Mario Winston lived a relatively stress free life. He ate well and led an active and healthy lifestyle which included daily walks and weekly bike rides. But a year ago at the age of 47, his life changed drastically. Winston suffered a stroke. This is far from uncommon. Over 800,000 people in the U.S. each year fall victim to strokes according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds and every 4 minutes someone dies as a result.
"I fell down, I couldn't talk, I had no arm movement and no memory," recalls Winston. Still he considers himself one of the lucky ones. After being rushed to Morristown Memorial Hospital for treatment, Winston recovered enough to be sent to the Jerry & Dolores Turco Medical Rehabilitation Center in Lincoln Park, NJ. He didn't choose the facility nor had he even heard of it but was sent there as a referral from Morristown Memorial. Winston could not walk when he arrived at JDT. He couldn't talk and had no movement on his right side.
A stroke occurs when blood vessels in the brain burst or when a clot blocks the blood supply to the brain, experts say. Serious long-term disabilities are often the result. As in Winston's case, the stroke did cause significant problems, including speech difficulties, memory loss and paralysis. The brain's ability to control muscle movements gets impaired when damage at any point occurs along the chain of nerve cells that run from the brain down through the spinal cord. Winston could not move his arm due to paralysis even though his brain was telling his muscles to do so. Occupational therapist, Jodi Berg, introduced Winston to a relatively new interactive rehabilitation therapy utilizing JDT's high technology: the InMotion 2.0 Shoulder/Arm Robot. Winston admits that he was apprehensive about the robot's ability to help him to regain movement.
The robotic assisted therapy, designed by Interactive Motion Technologies, gives patients with motor disabilities the opportunity to be more proactive in their recovery by challenging them to interact with several games designed to increase both motor and visual functions. With reluctance, Winston agreed to give the InMotion Robot a try. His right shoulder was strapped snuggly into a supportive device and he was given a joystick to operate a cursor that appeared on a computer screen. His task was to follow the leader in a dot catcher game with the goal of moving the cursor from one portion of a circle to another. The robot assisted him through a series of high repetitions. "I could feel my arm starting to move...after 2 months the movements were on my own," declared Winston.
The dot catcher game helps patients like Winston regain normal arm and shoulder motions which are smooth and fluid rather than jerky synergistic movements which the brain does to compensate for the lack of motor skills. Winston continued to make significant improvements during his 6 month rehabilitation therapy at JDT. "The robot therapy did speed up my recovery...I would say it made it at least 6 times faster," recalls Winston. "I think anyone who tries it even once will realize it works."
Today, Winston lives unassisted and walks with a cane. He expresses his gratitude to Cody and Lacy (physical therapists at JDT) who helped him walk again. He has 40% of the movement back in his right side and can raise his right hand halfway to his face. He can move his right shoulder up and down and from front to back. Although Winston can't drive, he had pride in his voice when he stated that he completed the last of his outpatient therapy. "I have almost half my life back now," said Winston, "and I'm happy that my treatment was so good."
