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Jeannie

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On March 22, 2019, Jeannie and her daughter, Becca, were stopped in traffic on a major interstate highway when their car was struck from behind by a truck going 76 miles per hour at impact. Becca sustained a severe concussion along with numerous bruises and overall trauma. Jeannie received more severe injuries including seven broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken eye socket and most notably, a fractured spine and damaged spinal cord. She was airlifted to Grady Hospital, an outstanding trauma hospital located in downtown Atlanta. After being stabilized and evaluated, Jeannie underwent emergency surgery to stabilize her spinal cord and conduct additional procedures to address her other injuries. Her spinal cord injury was classified as T-4, ASIA B which meant she had some sense of feeling but no motor capacity from her chest down. After a few days of recovery at Grady, she was transferred to Shepherd Center where she spent six weeks in their in-patient program, followed by an additional six weeks in their outpatient program engaged in intensive therapy five days a week, eight hours each day. 

Following the outpatient program, she entered Shepherd’s Beyond Therapy program where she received therapy for two to three hours, four days per week until March of 2020 when Covid-19 caused Shepherd to close the program during the pandemic.  Shepherd reopened the Beyond Therapy program on a limited basis this past August and Jeannie has been a regular participant until she left for California in September. Both Grady and Shepherd have been amazing partners and caregivers through Jeannie’s journey, and she and her family are forever grateful for their outstanding expertise and support.

Jeannie learned about the UCLA Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation Trial in late 2019. This technology and associated therapies were developed by highly respected spinal cord researcher, Dr. Reggie Edgerton and his accomplished team. Jeannie and her husband traveled to Los Angeles in November of 2019 for a clinical trial assessment. They met with Dr. Parag Gad, Lead Researcher at the UCLA Edgerton Lab, and two capable and attentive assistants. After going through a careful process of attaching the electrical nodes to specific areas of her spinal cord and modulating the charge levels, they began the test to measure her response to the therapy. Initial reactions to the device were positive. After just a few attempts, Jeannie was able to move her left leg under her own control, the first self-initiated movement in almost eight months since her injury.  She went on to move her right leg and then her foot. Jeannie was accepted into the trial which was expected to begin in March of 2020. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions at UCLA, the trial was delayed until mid-September of this year. 

With continued restrictions on UCLA research facilities, Parag and Reggie made the decision to conduct Jeannie’s trial at a spinal cord therapy center in San Diego. Jeannie started the therapy sessions on September 21 and has recently completed her initial four weeks of the trial. 

We have been very pleased with Jeannie’s progress and development since coming to San Diego. The therapists assigned to her case are highly trained and committed to Jeannie’s goal of regaining control of her lower body and walking independently. With the combination of active and goal-based physical therapy and the UCLA electrical stimulation device, Jeannie is now initiating movement in her hips, trunk and legs. These movements are far beyond what she was able to accomplish before the trial. The goal is for Jeannie to stand independently at the conclusion of this first eight-week segment of the trial and continue towards additional functionality and independent steps in future segments. Jeannie and her family firmly believe that this UCLA trial is showing meaningful progress and are excited to continue the program going forward.