MyoCycle FES bike (Therapy)

My son’s name is David Nicholas Abernathy. From the time he was 4 years old, he has been involved in ANY sport that started with the word extreme! At 4, he was doing tricks on his PW50 dirt bike! And from there started his love affair with wheels and speed! Who knew that 10 years later that would come to a screeching halt!

one day when I picked him up from camp, he had scratches all over his knees and hands. I asked what happened and he says that his feet just went numb and stopped working. This happened several times during his camp adventures. Naturally, he was like, “Mom! It’s not big deal! I’m fine!” But he wasn’t “fine”.

After this development, we returned to Dr Adams, his Orthopaedic Doctor who shared concern for his symptoms. We were originally sent to her as a result of the school scoliosis screening. He showed signs, so we had to take him to be checked out. Their tests are so sensitive that many children are referred with negative results. This is what I assumed would be the case, however Dr Baughman’s office referred him to get an XRay as they saw signs of curvature. So Dr Adams was who we were referred to after the results came back.

We were essentially keeping an eye on the symptoms until this week at camp. When we went back to her, she was so concerned, she wanted him to see a Pediatric Neurosurgeon in Atlanta. This is where Dr Brahma with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta became such a huge part of our lives!

This appointment would change the life of my beautiful, spunky, full of energy, always on the go, adventurous little boy forever!

It was here that we learned that David had a tumor blocking 90% of his spinal cord. It was then that we learned that it was a super super slow growing tumor, but if it grew much more he would be paralyzed! We had to make a decision and FAST!

Within 1 week the surgery was scheduled and we THOUGHT a relief and peace was on the way. But 2 days before the surgery we are being told of 6-8 weeks of physical therapy that would help him relearn how to walk and use the restroom and much more information that was never shared with us! I don’t know if we were just overwhelmed or if the doctors just assumed that we knew messing around with a spinal cord could be detrimental! Yes! We should! But the welfare of our boy was foremost on our mind!

Our sweet happy boy was in surgery for 13+ hours only to find that they were NOT able to get the tumor. It was entangled so intricately in his spinal cord that during surgery, they lost signal. He was cut from his T3 to his T12 and came out of surgery worse off than when he went in.

Through rehab, he was able to walk some but over time, his ability has been hindered and he spends more time in his wheelchair than on his crutches. The doctor said he should remain as active as possible, but he also knows that taking a few steps for him takes a hundred times more energy than it does for you or me! Yet my boy does it! And all with a smile!

David has made the most of every single day of his life and has blessed our family with a soon to be daughter in law, Faith…a precious and beautiful granddaughter, Araya and a soon to come granddaughter, Elayna! He is a family man who adores the ladies in his life and will do anything for them! He is finishing his last semester in College this year and is interning as a Drafting Engineer. He provides for his family so that his beautiful fiancé can stay home and raise their children. It is important to them both that they take their responsibilities seriously and raise their children. And what a phenomenal job they are doing!

We were told in one of David’s rehab sessions about a Myolyn MyoCycle FES bike! They used this in Atlanta with him and it is the ONLY equipment that has given him results that he could see and feel! The unfortunate thing is that no local rehab offers this currently and we have tried to get them to add it to their equipment but they have not to date. Another unfortunate road block is that insurance won’t pay for ANY of it. And lastly, this equipment is $8,450 (as of 2019 when we first inquired)

The MyoCycle is designed to enable people with paralysis or muscle weakness to achieve therapeutic exercise using their own leg muscles! This helps prevent or reverse muscle atrophy, reduce muscle spasms, increase blood flow, and increase range of motion. FES cycle training has even been shown to increase strength, functionality, and sensation in some people.

Any help you could provide would be more than a blessing. It would be years more of quality life with David’s two little girls and his love of his life. It would mean years more of seeing our son grow and be the man he is! It would be years more of Faith having David by her side making dreams come true! It would be life changing for a young family who loves God, has faith in His plan, and one whose trust in Him has not wavered but became stronger through what others might see as a reason to quit! This precious family will never quit and with your help, we can support this effort!

God bless you for reading this and prayerfully considering your support!