May 12/13

Unfortunately the blog website was down last night, so I was not able to post my day's work.  Yesterday and today have been less uneventful, because I am back at campus and no longer under the direction of my sponsor.  I have spent these two days reading a book called "Overcoming Paralysis".  It was written by Scott Biehler, with all the information accredited to Igor Burdenko.  Scott was in a motorcycle accident suffered a broken back and was paralyzed from the chest down.  He was told he would not be able to do a lot any more, and without a medical miracle, would never walk.  Through water therapy and working with Igor, he now has control of the muscles below where he was injured, and is making a lot of progress. He wrote this book about his experience and  how to help other in his situation, through the Burdenko method.  I have not yet finished the book, but it goes through all the basics of the Burdenko method and talks about Igor.  It was interesting to discover that Igor turned to water therapy as his main interest and method of therapy after watching his Russian father (Igor is from Russia), who suffered many injuries from World War II, but could still exercise in the water with much less pain and a significantly quicker recovery time.  I also found out that Igor has an interest in working with the handicapped after developing a program where for his athlete who had a serious accident and because quadriplegic.  He went from only being able use his mouth, to miraculously having the use of his arms and being able to write again.  This book has also outlined the five key points of the Burdenko method.  The were to work on the water and in land, work in the vertical position in the water, work with the whole body, work in both directions, and work to develop six essential abilities for everyday life and sport (balance, coordination, flexibility, endurance, speed, and strength - in that order).

There are many cases explained in which Igor has helped people transition from wheelchairs to walking, even when doctors said it wasn't likely to be done.  The book is very interesting so far and I look forward to reporting more on it once I get there.  Until then, I have the weekend off and am back to working at Hopkinton on Monday.