Rehab Institute of Chicago
May 4, 2006//
My wife saw a report on TV about the Locomat, a robotic gait trainer that was being used at The Rehab Institute of Chicago. We called and set an appointment to go to Chicago for an evaluation.
We decided to go up the day before the appointment so Ashleigh could rest from the drive. next day we went to the appointment and were told the doctor we had been working through had been called out of town for a family emergency. Luckily, they had another doctor do the eval but he did not know any of the groundwork we had laid to try to get Ashleigh accepted.I think he was pretty reluctant, but Dr. Phillip agreed to bring Ashleigh in for two weeks to see how it goes. The only problem was that there was not going to be an empty bed until about three days later. We decided it would be easier on Ashleigh to spend the weekend rather than drive back and forth twice. And as things always go, we were doing the sightseeing thing o the Miracle Mile when Ashleigh’s wheelchair broke and would now only go in circles when using the power drive on her wheelchair.
The rehab was great. They really took care of Ashleigh and the facilities and equipment are fantastic. We ended up staying for six weeks until our insurance coverage ran out. The staff in the Tech Center wanted to keep her even longer.
The Tech Center worked with Ashleigh daily to get her access to a communication system with the computer. They decided on the CyberLink headband for the input device with Boardmaker software.
Ashleigh ended up having tendon lengthening surgery on her legs and ankles to help the contractures. But even with casts on her legs and a cast on her left arm for serial casting she still went through all her therapy every day. Then in the late afternoon or evenings, she still wanted to participate in the recreational therapy sessions doing crafts, making paper, and other fun stuff like the therapy dogs. All in all we had a great time and saw lots of improvement. We can understand why the Rehab Institute of Chicago is the top rated rehab in the country.
I too went to Rehab in Chicago (RIC). On December 23, 2003, I was hit by a car while running an errand for work. I spent a few weeks in a coma, and was eventually transferred to RIC, so RIC has ALL my support. I also went to an RIC outptient rehabilitation place in Homewood, IL. It has been almost 4 years, and it has DEFINITELY tossed me some lovely punches;) But, I am hoping and praying for Ashleigh! God bless!