Spaulding Celebrates 40 Years of Remarkable Recoveries

September 18th, 2010

By Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

First planned in 1967 by Josiah Spaulding and a group of other civic leaders to address the critical rehabilitation need created by changes to Medicare law, the current Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, then Massachusetts Rehabilitation Hospital opened its doors on September 16, 1970.

* * *

Forty years later, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital has grown into one of the top rehabilitation facilities in the world as a leader in teaching, research, and care in the rehabilitative field.

“The story of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is truly made up of the thousands upon thousands of patients, families and staff who have achieved personal victories far beyond what they thought might be possible. While the technology and techniques used in those initial years have changed, the key pillars first established 40 years ago of dedication to patient care, a deep commitment to education and innovation and impassioned advocacy for the communities we serve still guides Spaulding today” said David Storto, President, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

The hospital initially operated programs in stroke, arthritis, orthopaedics, amputations and traumatic brain injury. Today not only is the understanding of these disease models and conditions far greater but Spaulding boasts centers of excellence in stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury(TBI) with regionally recognized programs in burn, amputee and muscleoskeletal rehab. In addition, Spaulding has one of the region’s largest pediatric rehabilitation programs and twenty three outpatient rehabilitation facilities located throughout Eastern Massachusetts.

The backbone of Spaulding’s programs is based on a physician led team-orientated approach pioneered in the 70′s at facilities such as Spaulding. Today multi-disciplinary teams with physical, occupational, and speech language therapists, nursing, social workers, case managers and physicians provide a comprehensive care approach for patients and families.

Home to the Harvard Medical School’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding has been the only rehabilitation hospital since 1995 in New England ranked as a best hospital by US News & World Reports, with a #4 ranking this year, its highest ever. Spaulding also serves as the official rehabilitation hospital of the New England Patriots and Revolution.

Spaulding has evolved into an important center of research with over 100 active studies in areas such as Brain Injury, Parkinson’s disease, Cerebral Palsy, and bone density interventions for persons with paralysis among many others. In recent years, Spaulding’s clinical and research under the leadership of Vice President of Medicine Dr. Ross Zafonte, have achieved new levels of success as the first rehabilitation hospital in the country with the ground breaking Pediatric Lokomat, its participation as the only rehab hospital nationally in a first of its kind Dept. of Defense study into PTSD and TBI and its status as the brain injury clinical site for the Red Sox Foundation/Mass General Home Base Program.

“In so many ways we are just starting to scratch the surface of our understanding of the biology of recovery. The work done at Spaulding by our many talented colleagues over the past 40 years has increased our baseline knowledge of how the body heals exponentially. I’m very proud of where we have been but even more enthusiastic about what lies ahead for Spaulding with our novel approaches and innovative research,” Dr. Ross Zafonte, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Spaulding and Chair of the Harvard Department of PM&R.

The world has radically changed since 1970 for persons with disabilities and those in need of rehabilitation care. Spaulding has played a major role regionally and nationally as a leader in the field and advocate for the disability community. Even today among a rapidly changing healthcare landscape the need for utilization of rehabilitation medicine will only increase as health science enables people to survive trauma and live longer. No matter the changes the next 40 years holds for Spaulding, the path blazed in its first forty years will guide its caregivers as they enable even more remarkable recoveries.

About Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital – A member of Partners HealthCare, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is the flag ship facility of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, which includes the Spaulding main campus, a 196-bed facility, located in Boston, MA, Spaulding Hospital Cambridge, Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands, Shaughnessy-Kaplan Rehabilitation Hospital three skilled nursing facilities: North End Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Boston Center for Rehabilitation and Sub-Acute Care, and the Clark House, as well as twenty three outpatient sites throughout the Greater Boston area. Spaulding is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School as well as the official rehabilitation hospital of the New England Patriots. Spaulding is the only rehabilitation hospital in New England continually ranked since 1995 by U.S. News and World Report in its Best Hospitals survey. For more information, please visit www.spauldingrehab.org
Akamai village is a resort in Hua Hin Thailand that is completely adapted to the needs of people who need care on their holiday. The apartments are completely adapted for wheelchair users. All the hotel like  facilities at the resort are accessible for disabled people. Our accommodation / rooms / are spacious and wheelchair accessible. Enjoy your holiday.

Travel transport with van from and to town through agency. Property and handicapped vacations holidays in Thailand.
-
http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Tour de Friends – zaterdag 25 september

September 18th, 2010

Tour de Friends op zaterdag 25 september. Gratis evenement. Meld je nu aan!

Fonds GehandicaptensportFonds Gehandicaptensport organiseert na het succes van de schaatsvriendendag afgelopen winter voor de 2de keer een vriendendag voor alle gehandicapten van Nederland.
Graag nodigen we  jou uit om samen met 4 vrienden een sportieve en gezellige dag te beleven. Het evenement vindt plaats bij FlevOnice in Biddinghuizen (vlakbij Walibi).

Deze Zomervriendendag staat dit jaar geheel in het teken van wielen.
Niet alleen de toegang is gratis, maar ook alle clinics, de consumpties en de lunch.

Bekende sporters laten jou en je vrienden tijdens diverse clinics kennismaken met de vele mogelijkheden die je hebt om te sporten. Zo geeft onder andere  Barbara de Loor een skeeler clinic. Er zijn lig-, duo en handbikes, blokarts en kan je een court clinic volgen met onder andere rolstoelbasketball, -tennis en –dansen. Maar er zijn nog veel meer leuke activiteiten……

Voor het programma en om je aan te melden ga je naar www.fondsgehandicaptensport.nl/zomervriendendag2010

Dit evenement wordt mogelijk gemaakt door Triple Double sportmarketing, Welzorg, FlevOnice en Fonds Gehandicaptensport.

http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Akamai Village is een luxueus resort in Hua Hin Thailand dat volledig is aangepast voor mensen met een handicap. Het hele resort is rolstoel toegankelijk. De accommodatie  is volledig uitgerust om mensen met een handicap, rolstoel gebruikers of mensen die zorg nodig hebben, een fijne vakantie te bezorgen. Wij zijn ervan overtuigd dat U  het nivo van aanpassingen wat Akamai Village biedt niet zult kunnen terugvinden in een van de vele hotels in Hua Hin.  U kunt nu boeken voor een heerlijke vakantie in een van onze aangepaste appartementen. Een gedeelte van de appartementen zijn gebouwd als geschakelde vakantiewoningen en beschikken over twee slaap kamers. Wij heten u van harte welkom.

vakantiehuizen in Thailand, rolstoelers groepsreizen Thailand, gehandicapten reizen Thailand,  rolstoelvakanties Thailand, rolstoelvervoer in Thailand,gehandicapten verblijf Thailand, gehandicapten reis Thailand , aangepaste vakantiewoningen in Thailand, gehandicapten woningen in Thailand, gehandicapten huizen in Thailand, aangepaste toegankelijke vakantiewoningen in Thailand, verzorgde vakanties in Thailand, aangepast busje met qstraint systeem, veilig transport vervoer rolstoelvakanties en zorghotels, gehandicaptenreizen Thailand.

Bone-Anchored Leg Prostheses Improve Quality of Life, Swedish Study Finds

September 16th, 2010

ScienceDaily (Sep. 15, 2010) — A new study from Sweden shows the results of treatment using prostheses attached to titanium implants in the bones of patients with above-the-knee amputations. It reveals that the treatment improves function and quality of life in nine out of ten patients.

The study is the result of research carried out at the Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital that is being presented at the International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT) annual international conference in Gothenburg.

At a symposium, researcher Rickard Brånemark and others will be presenting some aspects of their OPRA study (Osseointegrated Prostheses for the Rehabilitation of Amputees) that began in 1999.

In the study, researchers at the Centre of Orthopaedic Osseointegration (COO) and the orthopaedic clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Mölndal treated 51 patients who had been amputated above the knee, with a two-year follow-up period. The patients were aged between 20 and 65, with 55% being male.

“The treatment improves both function and quality of life in more than nine out of ten patients,” says Brånemark, a researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy and orthopaedic surgeon at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. “It’s important to point out that this treatment is intended for younger amputees and is not suitable for patients who have had amputations as a result of vascular disease.”

More than 2,000 leg amputations are carried out each year in Sweden. While most are on elderly patients with diabetes or impaired blood circulation, some are on younger patients. Normally a leg prosthesis is attached to the amputated stump using a socket. The new technique means that the prosthesis can easily be screwed tight to a titanium implant that is anchored to the bone and protrudes from the stump.

“Attaching prostheses directly to the bone with an implant has long been an unattainable vision, and this has been in development for more than 20 years. But we are now seeing the international breakthrough for this revolutionary treatment,” says Brånemark, one of the authors behind the study, who explains that work is now underway on treating other amputations such as fingers and arms.

The studies have been carried as a collaboration between Sahlgrenska University Hospital, the Department of Orthopaedics and Department of Biomaterials at the Sahlgrenska Academy, and the BIOMATCELL VINN Excellence Center of Biomaterials and Cell Therapy at the University of Gothenburg.

Osseointegration

Osseointegration is a way of attaching prostheses directly to the bone, and was developed in the 1960s by professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark. He discovered that titanium is not rejected by the body, but instead fuses with the surrounding bone tissue. It was originally used to replace lost teeth using titanium dental implants, a treatment method that has spread worldwide and improved the quality of life of millions of people. It has since been developed and osseointegration now has many applications, including leg, arm and face prostheses, and is also used to attach hearing aids.

Akamai village is a resort in Hua Hin Thailand that is completely adapted to the needs of people who need care on their holiday. The apartments are completely adapted for wheelchair users. All the hotel like  facilities at the resort are accessible for disabled people. Our accommodation / rooms / are spacious and wheelchair accessible. Enjoy your holiday.

Travel transport with van from and to town through agency. Property and handicapped vacations holidays in Thailand.
-
http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Kleurrijk met rolstoel over de catwalk

September 16th, 2010

Alma Bosman showt in haar rolstoel kleding van Feeën en Feeksen. foto Kevin Hagens

Alma Bosman showt in haar rolstoel kleding van Feeën en Feeksen. foto Kevin Hagens

Quantcast

Apeldoorn – Modellen klaar, publiek klaar, geluidsinstallatie klaar, laat de modeshow beginnen. Rond de zestig man publiek zat gisteravond in buurtcentrum het +Punt aan de Roggestraat.

Hier was deze avond een modeshow van fantasiekledingwinkel Feeën & Feeksen. Niets standaard, allemaal bijzondere modellen en ‘bijzondere beauty’s’ op de de catwalk.

Antien Grijseels en Wendy Fritz, het creatieve duo van Feeën & Feeksen, willen met de modeshow vooral laten zien dat ze voor iedereen kleding kunnen maken.

Het is een kleurrijk geheel op de catwalk en er komt van alles langs. Lange modellen, zwangere vrouwen, rolstoelers, vrouwen met rollator en zelfs een scootmobiel showen de fantasievolle kleding aan het publiek. Elke mannequin wordt begroet met kreten als: ‘oh wat mooi’ en een luid applaus van het publiek. Met duidelijk veel plezier veroveren de deelnemers de catwalk.

Anneke Wilhelm, voorzitter platform gehandicapten Apeldoorn, rijdt met flair door de zaal. Ze demonstreert onder andere een winterhoes die je makkelijk kan dragen in een rolstoel. De winterhoes is vrolijk paars met groen en aan alle handigheden, zoals bijvoorbeeld een zak aan de voorkant is gedacht. “Er is alleen maar somber spul te koop in de winkels, dat is zo jammer, dit is veel vrolijker”, voegt Wilhelm toe terwijl ze haar rondje maakt. Ook de kettingen en broches gemaakt door mensen met een verstandelijke beperking van het naastgelegen atelier schitteren bij de kleding.

Grijseels en Fritz maken in hun winkel aan de 1e Wormenseweg kleding op maat en luisteren ook naar specifieke wensen. In het publiek genieten mevrouw Visbeen en mevrouw Lambaart met volle teugen van de show. Beide zijn vaste klant bij Feeën & Feeksen en hebben veel ideeën opgedaan tijdens de voorstelling. Lambaart weet: “De dames van de winkel zijn onvermoeibaar en nemen echt de tijd voor je kledingwens”.

Een van de modellen deze avond is Alma Bosman uit Apeldoorn. Alma ligt in een rolstoel. “Ik reed langs de winkel en dacht: he, dat interesseert mij wel!”, zegt Bosman. “Ik hou heel erg van hun kleding, het zit heerlijk, als een tweede huid. En het is niet standaard, ik hoef niet bang te zijn dat mijn buurvrouw in dezelfde outfit loopt”.

http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Akamai Village is een luxueus resort in Hua Hin Thailand dat volledig is aangepast voor mensen met een handicap. Het hele resort is rolstoel toegankelijk. De accommodatie  is volledig uitgerust om mensen met een handicap, rolstoel gebruikers of mensen die zorg nodig hebben, een fijne vakantie te bezorgen. Wij zijn ervan overtuigd dat U  het nivo van aanpassingen wat Akamai Village biedt niet zult kunnen terugvinden in een van de vele hotels in Hua Hin.  U kunt nu boeken voor een heerlijke vakantie in een van onze aangepaste appartementen. Een gedeelte van de appartementen zijn gebouwd als geschakelde vakantiewoningen en beschikken over twee slaap kamers. Wij heten u van harte welkom.

vakantiehuizen in Thailand, rolstoelers groepsreizen Thailand, gehandicapten reizen Thailand,  rolstoelvakanties Thailand, rolstoelvervoer in Thailand,gehandicapten verblijf Thailand, gehandicapten reis Thailand , aangepaste vakantiewoningen in Thailand, gehandicapten woningen in Thailand, gehandicapten huizen in Thailand, aangepaste toegankelijke vakantiewoningen in Thailand, verzorgde vakanties in Thailand, aangepast busje met qstraint systeem, veilig transport vervoer rolstoelvakanties en zorghotels, gehandicaptenreizen Thailand.

Shannon Murray: model and more

September 9th, 2010

Actress, model, rights activist, would-be legal eagle and the face of Debenhams’ fashion. The phrase “woman of many parts” might have been made to measure for Shannon Murray who shares her ambition and enthusiasm with Cathy Reay

Shannon MurraySome people walk straight out of university into the job of their dreams. Some are spotted by an eagle eye on the street. Some just “know the right people”. But for the majority of us it can take years to find what we are really looking for, and that’s no different for this month’s Disability Now cover star Shannon Murray. She smiles: “It’s been a very, very slow snowball; it hasn’t been an avalanche!”

But after a stint on Channel 4’s How To Look Good Naked turned into an opportunity to model for a major clothes retailer, it looks like Shannon’s career may be turning a corner.

I meet the gorgeous thirty-something in Soho on one of her rare days off from moving house, working full-time in business, filling in law firm application forms and, you know, appearing on billboards in sexy lingerie.

“Last December How To Look Good Naked (HTLGN) promoted the programme by putting pictures of me on either side of a London bus for a day and in one I wore lingerie. Because it was winter I was bundled up in clothes but I felt so naked looking at it!” Shannon flashes a huge grin that makes it nigh on impossible to believe she’s embarrassed by anything.

Despite her initial nervousness, she says that when the HTLGN producers asked her to join their campaign to get major retailers to use disabled models in their advertising, she jumped at the chance. “They had this great idea that they would take photos of disabled women to retail executives, show them that we can look just as good as non-disabled models and ask why we aren’t being used.”

It so happened that at the same time Debenhams was about to relaunch its Principles range, with the concept that it worked for every woman of every size and shape. They booked Shannon for a shoot and now she gets to bask in the glory of being the first disabled model to feature in a major retailer’s shop window.

“I’ve met disabled women who are so unconfident and unsure of how they can look great, so I was really pleased Gok Wan and the team treated it, and me, like anyone else on the programme,” she says.

“After I became disabled I didn’t think for a minute that 20 years from then something like this would be happening.”

In fact 20 years ago Shannon thought her childhood dreams of becoming a successful actress were completely shattered. Aged 14 on summer holiday with her family she fell and broke her neck, leaving her paraplegic, unable to walk unaided.

Shannon recounts her year-long rehabilitation process: “In hospital I watched lots of TV, and all I could think about was how there was this huge lack of disabled people on anything except the Paralympics. I really began to believe that acting was out the window.”

But she says a small part of her hungered to be the one to break down those barriers. Raised in London by hugely successful music industry-bod parents (her dad was a tour manager and her mother created clothes for assorted A-list popstars), it is safe to assume her determination can be traced back to her upbringing.

“My attitude comes from my parents. If someone tells me something isn’t possible then my brain just thinks ok, how do I get round this?”

But after spending her childhood years behind the scenes Shannon felt disillusioned by the music business, so at seven-years-old she enrolled into drama school, spending her free time in her room acting out made-up stories with her Cabbage Patch dolls. “I performed in my own little world, I was such a drama queen!”, she recounts.

It wasn’t until much later, in a sixth form common room, a friend persuaded her to enter a disabled modelling competition advertised in The Sun. “I just remember that I kept getting the callbacks and then I won and suddenly I had an agent too,” she says. “Things started to change; Model in a Million came with its own media circus. I was getting interviews and sure enough the offers for TV work slowly trickled in too.”

Though Shannon felt uncomfortable that the opportunities offered to her were all in programmes specifically to do with disability: “I’d get offers from Sunday morning disability programmes and I began to wonder why I should be relegated, it was frustrating.”

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Shannon secured the lead in Stephen Poliakoff’s BBC drama Friends and Crocodiles, a guest spot on Casualty and a role in the rather dubiously titled (nevertheless great) Planet Arse for Channel 4. It was these she loved the most:

“You do things like Casualty and you love it and then when you’re finished you just want to be back there. I loved the sets, the people; I wanted to be there every day.”

Simultaneously Shannon was picked up for modelling work for disability spreads in Just 17, French Elle, News of the World and, strangely, the Spice Girls fan club magazine. As a consequence she spent her late teens flitting between jobs while also trying to study a law degree.

“There were quiet periods and times when it was busy so I knew I’d need a back up plan, which is why I followed law. I didn’t want to get to 50 and say ‘I’ve spent 30 years waiting for a great acting role’. I didn’t want to look back and know I spent my whole life wishing for something that didn’t happen,” she says. “You’ve got to make things happen, so it was at that point I was thinking ok, what shall I do next?”

Two years later, worked to the bone and partied out, Shannon contracted pneumonia and was forced to leave university and her frantic student life in Manchester behind. After recovery she got a job at the jewellers Tiffanys and ended up staying put: “I really enjoyed having a job, earning money, I actually stayed there nearly five years before I kicked myself into gear and went back to education.”

Shannon re-studied law at Westminster, graduated in 2006, and followed it with two years at weekend Law School. So, after seven years of studying the subject, does she feel like giving up everything to travel that path?

“The way I see it is if the TV thing works out then great, but if not then a career as a lawyer beckons. Sometimes I think I might even be happier as a lawyer! As I learnt through Debenhams and through what actor friends have told me, being on TV comes with its own issues, with people thinking they have a right to say what they want about you because you’re in the public eye. The pressures of making sure you look and sound good are always there.”

While she’s been busy shaping her alternative career route, things have changed radically for disabled people in the media. The big change is simply that there is a hell of a lot more of them on the telly. Shannon agrees: “The more you see other people onscreen the more you know we’re kicking the door down and that fills me with hope for the future.

“I love presenting, I love drama; Cerrie Burnell, a couple of other talented disabled women and I were talking recently about how we should launch our own version of Loose Women. It would be hysterical!”

The world might not be quite ready for that, but Shannon isn’t waiting around. Whatever path she ends up choosing, she’s got big goals ahead:

“Life is there and you can’t sit back and let it pass you by. Yeah there are obstacles, the environment isn’t easy for someone in a wheelchair or crutches or whatever, but if you’re up for the challenge then just, you know, do it!”

Model, actress, designer, lawyer or human rights activist: whatever her guise, you’ll soon be hearing a lot more from Shannon Murray.

• How To Look Good Naked featuring Shannon Murray will premiere on Channel 4 on Wednesday 1st September at 8.30pm or you can watch it after that date at channel4.com/4od

•• Shannon will be participating in the Disabled & Sexy catwalk fashion show to raise money for the Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy at the Tabernacle, Notting Hill in London on 25 October. Visit disabledandsexy.co.uk for more information.

Akamai village is a resort in Hua Hin Thailand that is completely adapted to the needs of people who need care on their holiday. The apartments are completely adapted for wheelchair users. All the hotel like  facilities at the resort are accessible for disabled people. Our accommodation / rooms / are spacious and wheelchair accessible. Enjoy your holiday.

Travel transport with van from and to town through agency. Property and handicapped vacations holidays in Thailand.
-
http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Terminale patiënten verstoken van zorg

September 9th, 2010

AMSTERDAM -  Ernstig gehandicapten en patiënten die op sterven liggen, zitten door het stopzetten van de persoonsgebonden budgetten (pgb) zonder zorg.

Klink Foto: ANP

Veel ernstig zieke en terminale patiënten hebben thuis dringend hulp nodig vanwege hun ernstige situatie, maar blijven er desondanks van verstoken, meldt het Leidsch Dagblad.

Geldpot leeg

Deze zomer kondigde minister Klink van Volksgezondheid aan dat de geldpot voor persoonsgebonden budgetten, waarmee zieken zelf hulp kunnen inkopen, leeg is. Daarom worden er vanaf 1 juli tot aan het eind van het jaar geen nieuwe pgb’s meer verstrekt.

In de tussentijd moeten zieken tijdelijk zorg krijgen van AWBZ-instellingen, maar dat stuit in de praktijk op grote problemen. De instellingen kampen met wachtlijsten en hebben vaak al meer patiënten geholpen dan waarvoor ze worden betaald.

‘Schandalig’

PvdA-Kamerlid Wolbert heeft meerdere berichten binnengekregen van mensen die in zo’n situatie verkeren en ook Jan van ‘t Hof, voorzitter van Stichting Alertzorg en Welzijn, waarschuwt dat de situatie behoorlijk uit de hand loopt. Ze vinden het schandalig dat mensen op hun sterfbed niet de zorg krijgen die ze willen.

“Het onthouden van zorg aan deze mensen is onverantwoord”, aldus Wolbert in het Leidsch Dagblad. De PvdA eist dat Klink de zorgkantoren het mandaat geeft om in schrijnende gevallen alsnog een pgb-budget toe te kennen. Vandaag moet de minister tekst en uitleg geven, anders volgt een spoeddebat.

http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Akamai Village is een luxueus resort in Hua Hin Thailand dat volledig is aangepast voor mensen met een handicap. Het hele resort is rolstoel toegankelijk. De accommodatie  is volledig uitgerust om mensen met een handicap, rolstoel gebruikers of mensen die zorg nodig hebben, een fijne vakantie te bezorgen. Wij zijn ervan overtuigd dat U  het nivo van aanpassingen wat Akamai Village biedt niet zult kunnen terugvinden in een van de vele hotels in Hua Hin.  U kunt nu boeken voor een heerlijke vakantie in een van onze aangepaste appartementen. Een gedeelte van de appartementen zijn gebouwd als geschakelde vakantiewoningen en beschikken over twee slaap kamers. Wij heten u van harte welkom.

vakantiehuizen in Thailand, rolstoelers groepsreizen Thailand, gehandicapten reizen Thailand,  rolstoelvakanties Thailand, rolstoelvervoer in Thailand,gehandicapten verblijf Thailand, gehandicapten reis Thailand , aangepaste vakantiewoningen in Thailand, gehandicapten woningen in Thailand, gehandicapten huizen in Thailand, aangepaste toegankelijke vakantiewoningen in Thailand, verzorgde vakanties in Thailand, aangepast busje met qstraint systeem, veilig transport vervoer rolstoelvakanties en zorghotels, gehandicaptenreizen Thailand.

Pensioner tells how he beat “locked in” syndrome after massive stroke

September 2nd, 2010

A stroke victim has told how he amazed doctors by overcoming “locked-in” syndrome in a case that raises questions for the assisted suicide debate.

Graham Miles, 66, said that through sheer willpower he regained the use of his body after he was left completely paralysed except for his eyes by a stroke in the stem of the brain which connects it to the body.

His recovery is such that he can now walk, talk and even races cars.

But while it has amazed doctors and his family and friends, it has also reopened the debate about assisted suicides and the assumption that completely paralysed patients can never recover.

Mr Miles, a father-of-two, believes he overcame the devastating condition by tapping into the “extra capacity” of the brain.

“If you are totally focused, you’ve got sufficient drive, commitment and mental stamina, you can break down that barrier between the brain and the body that goes with total paralysis,” he said.

Mr Miles, originally from Sanderstead, Surrey, was diagnosed with “locked-in” syndrome aged 49 on December 2, 1993 after he suffered a stroke on the way home from his work as a gas engineer.

He spent six months in Mayday University Hospital in Croydon and then six months in a residential rehabilitation home before being allowed home.

He said that his initial paralysis was so complete he even found it hard to breath but by concentrating on small movements he was out of bed in five months.

“Initially I had a job to do, and that was to breathe because, although the involuntary muscles still work, such as the heart and the lungs, the chest is paralysed so there’s a resistance to breathing,” he said.

“You have to quickly work out that you have to concentrate on the diaphragm to get effective breathing. That was the initial problem.

“Moving my eyelids was my only method of communication at first.

“When you have a brainstem stroke, a mild euphoria is produced to prevent panic. I don’t remember any euphoria but I do remember that I felt completely calm.

“I remember thinking how strange it was that I wasn’t in total panic and despair. I had a major problem and I knew I had to deal with it and that was my main focus.

“After two months I started getting my voice back. It was very frail and I could only manage one word at a time, I couldn’t put sentences together.

“I had a little bit of movement in my face but nothing in my body.

“I was determined to get some feeling back in my body. I concentrated on my big toe. I closed my eyes and willed it to move. One day, after about three or four months, it flickered.

“Once I had made that initial breakthrough I started working on different parts of my body. Toes first, then fingers.

“I took my first steps on a Zimmer frame about five or six months after my stroke.”

He said he felt he had been “left to die” by medical staff and tried to communicate his fears with his family using a spelling board.

“‘My consultant said he was bewildered and didn’t know how I was still alive,” he said.

“The brain isn’t totally understood – apparently there is a lot of extra capacity in it and it seems as though I’ve found some of it.”

Mr Miles said he will remain “damaged goods” but is able to live independently. His wife Brenda left him 18 months after the accident and he now lives in Brighton.

“I walk with two sticks, short distances,” he said.

“I look after myself, in my own flat, I drive a manual car and I do a little bit of motorsport – racing Jaguar E-Types.”

The syndrome was launched into public consciousness in 1997 after a ‘Locked-in’ journalist published his memoir “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”.

He wrote the whole book by blinking his left eye as a transcriber recited the alphabet. He died days after publication from pneumonia and before it was made into a film.

Mr Mile’s recovery could have some bearing on the case of Tony Nicklinson who is applying for the right to die at the High Court after being left “locked in” after a stroke in 2005.

He is seeking clarification to make sure that, if he asks his wife to help him die, she will not be prosecuted and given a mandatory life sentence.

Alistair Thompson, spokesman for Care Not Killing, said Mr Mile’s case highlighted why assisted suicide should not be legalised.

He said: “This has been our argument again and again – the fact that someone has a disability does not mean that they will not improve.

“It is a myth that people stay the same and often people do get better. This is the strongest reason to stop the legalising of assisted suicide.”

Akamai village is a resort in Hua Hin Thailand that is completely adapted to the needs of people who need care on their holiday. The apartments are completely adapted for wheelchair users. All the hotel like  facilities at the resort are accessible for disabled people. Our accommodation / rooms / are spacious and wheelchair accessible. Enjoy your holiday.
Travel transport with van from and to town through agency. Property and handicapped vacations holidays in Thailand.
-
http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

De Wtcg wat hebt u daarmee?

September 2nd, 2010

In deze publicatie vindt u informatie over de gevolgen van de Wet tegemoetkoming chronisch zieken en gehandicapten (Wtcg) voor bepaalde groepen ouderen, arbeidsongeschikten, gehandicapten en chronisch zieken.
Deze publicatie is bestemd voor chronisch zieken en gehandicapten en andere geïnteresserden en bevat de volgende onderwerpen:

  • gevolgen voor mensen die chronisch ziek of gehandicapt zijn;
  • gevolgen voor bewoners van AWBZ-instellingen;
  • gevolgen voor mensen die zelfstandig wonen en hulp krijgen;
  • wat als u zorgkosten heeft die niet worden vergoed;
  • gevolgen bij arbeidsongeschiktheid;
  • gevolgen voor mensen die 65 jaar of ouder zijn.

De gesproken versie van deze brochure is via deze site te beluisteren en is gedurende een half jaar beschikbaar op een verzamel-cd. Om te zien of de cd-rom met deze publicatie nog bestelbaar is, klikt u op de link ‘Adres Dedicon’.

Afbeelding van publicatie De Wtcg wat hebt u daar mee?

PDF document | 229 Kb

Brochure | 31-08-2010 | VWS

Download

http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Akamai Village is een luxueus resort in Hua Hin Thailand dat volledig is aangepast voor mensen met een handicap. Het hele resort is rolstoel toegankelijk. De accommodatie  is volledig uitgerust om mensen met een handicap, rolstoel gebruikers of mensen die zorg nodig hebben, een fijne vakantie te bezorgen. Wij zijn ervan overtuigd dat U  het nivo van aanpassingen wat Akamai Village biedt niet zult kunnen terugvinden in een van de vele hotels in Hua Hin.  U kunt nu boeken voor een heerlijke vakantie in een van onze aangepaste appartementen. Een gedeelte van de appartementen zijn gebouwd als geschakelde vakantiewoningen en beschikken over twee slaap kamers. Wij heten u van harte welkom.

vakantiehuizen in Thailand, rolstoelers groepsreizen Thailand, gehandicapten reizen Thailand,  rolstoelvakanties Thailand, rolstoelvervoer in Thailand,gehandicapten verblijf Thailand, gehandicapten reis Thailand , aangepaste vakantiewoningen in Thailand, gehandicapten woningen in Thailand, gehandicapten huizen in Thailand, aangepaste toegankelijke vakantiewoningen in Thailand, verzorgde vakanties in Thailand, aangepast busje met qstraint systeem, veilig transport vervoer rolstoelvakanties en zorghotels, gehandicaptenreizen Thailand.

A life and love of travel

August 26th, 2010

Hanka: Passionate Exile
Hanka Kawecka Lee

Passionate Exile is a beautiful coffee table book, rich in colourful, exotic photography and fascinating, evocative travel journalism.

This collection of selected travel articles by Hanka Kawecka Lee was compiled and published posthumously, each article individually and lovingly prefaced by her husband Michael.

Articles that originally appeared in the UK’s Sunday Observer and the altogether more exotic Jakarta Post and Dziennik Polski, are brought together in vivid relief with lush imagery.

Hanka, an environ­mentalist originating from Poland, lived with multiple sclerosis (MS) for the latter 12 years of her life. Her debilitating condition, however, is a mere footnote to the life of a charismatic and compassionate humanitarian.

Hanka’s writing breathes vitality into the colourful characters and cultural traditions to which she bore witness whilst journeying across Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. She recounts conversations overheard between a shop assistant and her patron in a newly-privatised Warsaw marketplace grocery, in sharp contrast to stark but sympathetic accounts of the rituals of the Maasai tribe, making situations that are alien to most of us seem both familiar and fascinating. If MS hampered her enjoyment of life, or hindered her travels, Hanka chose not to reveal it to us through her writing.

Hanka was 53 when she was diagnosed with MS, and while some of the writings in this collection date back to the 1960s, many articles were penned post-diagnosis. Yet MS is explicitly mentioned in only the final few articles, most notably in the curiously titled “My hospital, my home”. In this tribute to the (aptly-named?) Royal Free, Hanka describes the London hospital as a “safe haven” which afforded her the time to reflect on her adventures, although her description of some nursing staff as “careless and cruel” perhaps belies her true journey though the NHS system of care.

As this collection was not compiled by Hanka herself I wonder whether she would have chosen to include an article about her declining health as the afterword to a set of accounts otherwise so rich in joy and wonder, and which to me seems a sad adjunct to the chronicle of an otherwise exhilarating life.

Akamai village is a resort in Hua Hin Thailand that is completely adapted to the needs of people who need care on their holiday. The apartments are completely adapted for wheelchair users. All the hotel like  facilities at the resort are accessible for disabled people. Our accommodation / rooms / are spacious and wheelchair accessible. Enjoy your holiday.
Travel transport with van from and to town through agency. Property and handicapped vacations holidays in Thailand.
-
http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Gehandicaptenzorg financieel aan kop

August 26th, 2010

sHeerenLooDe gehandicaptenzorg heeft in 2009 financieel de beste resultaten geboekt van alle zorgsectoren. Meer zorg voor kinderen en jeugdigen, vergrijzing van de populatie, zuinigheid en de invoering van de zorgzwaartebekostiging droegen bij aan de goede resultaten. Het rapport ‘Sector top 10. Omzet en resultaten zorgaanbieders 2009′ is de neerslag van een onderzoek naar alle financiële jaarverslagen over 2009. Daar staan van iedere sector de tien beste presteerders genoemd. Gemiddeld steeg het resultaat met 1,9 procent bij de toptien-organisaties, in de gehandicaptenzorg was dat 2,7 procent.

De omzet van de top-tien in de sector gehandicaptenzorg groeide in 2009 tot € 2,3 miljard euro. Volgens de samenstellers van het rapport is de groei in de gehandicaptenzorg vooral te danken aan een grotere capaciteit voor zorg aan kinderen en jongeren. Ook de vergrijzing van de populatie heeft een positief effect gehad op de omzet.

De invoering van de zorgzwaartebekostiging heeft geleid tot meer inkomsten. Verder hebben veel zorgorganisaties in 2009 zuinig aan gedaan, met het oog op komende veranderingen in de awbz.

De financieel best presterende organisaties in de gehandicaptenzorg waren in 2009:
1 ‘s Heeren Loo
2 Talant
3 Ipse de Bruggen
4 Kegg Viataal
5 Asvz
6 Dichterbij
7 Koraal
8 Amarant
9 Pluryn
10 Gemiva?Svgroep

http://www.accessibleholidaythailand.com/

Akamai Village is een luxueus resort in Hua Hin Thailand dat volledig is aangepast voor mensen met een handicap. Het hele resort is rolstoel toegankelijk. De accommodatie  is volledig uitgerust om mensen met een handicap, rolstoel gebruikers of mensen die zorg nodig hebben, een fijne vakantie te bezorgen. Wij zijn ervan overtuigd dat U  het nivo van aanpassingen wat Akamai Village biedt niet zult kunnen terugvinden in een van de vele hotels in Hua Hin.  U kunt nu boeken voor een heerlijke vakantie in een van onze aangepaste appartementen. Een gedeelte van de appartementen zijn gebouwd als geschakelde vakantiewoningen en beschikken over twee slaap kamers. Wij heten u van harte welkom.

vakantiehuizen in Thailand, rolstoelers groepsreizen Thailand, gehandicapten reizen Thailand,  rolstoelvakanties Thailand, rolstoelvervoer in Thailand,gehandicapten verblijf Thailand, gehandicapten reis Thailand , aangepaste vakantiewoningen in Thailand, gehandicapten woningen in Thailand, gehandicapten huizen in Thailand, aangepaste toegankelijke vakantiewoningen in Thailand, verzorgde vakanties in Thailand, aangepast busje met qstraint systeem, veilig transport vervoer rolstoelvakanties en zorghotels, gehandicaptenreizen Thailand.