After half a decade of tirelessly working to reverse the effects of a 2005 spinal-cord injury, Jon Schlueter remembers finally lowering his expectations.
Schlueter had dedicated himself to an exercise-based rehabilitation after a shallow-diving accident left him with an incomplete C5-C7 spine injury. He needed to make the most of the limited window those with spinal-cord injuries have to regain significant function. But his gains had leveled off. He acknowledged to himself it was time to move on from the idea he might have more than limited use of his arms and hands.
“Conventional wisdom with a spinal cord injury then was you had up till five years for the spinal cord swelling to go away and for any returns to come,” Schlueter said. “I spent those first five, seven years really doing nothing else but rehabilitation just five days a week at the UW and private facilities, then doing it at home by myself, becoming obsessed. But the gains leveled off. I’d all but forgotten about the right side of my body.”
Fifteen years later, Schlueter has a renewed outlook on recovery after participating in a University of Washington School of Medicine study of an electrical-stimulation device that shows great promise for patients with loss of function and other side effects of spinal cord injury. The 49-year-old Seattle resident now plays the guitar for hours each week and continues to improve. He’s regained use of his right hand and arm, has newly regulated blood pressure and other systemic issues and is excited about the prospects for continued recovery.
