A dispute over therapy services for children with special needs is also affecting treatment for adults with severe movement disorders. Altoona is one of a handful of locations in the country with special therapy equipment for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders. But local patients who could benefit can’t get the treatment.
With the Giger MD machine, a patient lies on their back and pedals, using biofeedback to adjust their movements to a steady rhythm. The goal is to create new pathways around areas of the brain damaged by Parkinson’s, MS, stroke or other brain injury.
The machine now sits unused in the We Care Therapy facility in Altoona. It was purchased with community donations after Easter Seals closed the local clinic and We Care Therapy Services was formed.
But when Tyrone Hospital and ProCare Therapy ended their We Care partnership, the Giger MD remained at the We Care building, and the Adult Neuro Program and its patients moved to a ProCare facility. They no longer have access to the equipment.
Perry Conrad has taken multiple medications and even undergone brain surgery, since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 17 years ago. “I was sort of to the point where I was almost crawling to get from room to room in my house because I couldn’t ambulate, but they taught me how to move again,” he says about the Giger machine and the neuro program. Perry says, since he’s no longer able to use the Giger, he now needs to rely more on his walker,
Cindy Psaki has struggled with MS since 1984. She says treatment using the Giger, greatly reduced the number of falls she’d been suffering. “I noticed that it made a significant difference in my ability to walk, my balance and just when I started to fall or had a balance problem, my brain is starting to work where I can pull myself out. I couldn’t do that before. The Giger was significant in doing that.”
Director of the ProCare Neuro Program, Stacy DuBois says, “We would see fluidity of their movements change, so they may be able to walk with bigger strides and still a little uncoordinated, but the Giger actually helped smooth out those movements.”
Tyrone Hospital says since the machine was bought with We Care funding, it must remain at the facility, but they’re willing to sell it to a therapy provider and donate the money to services for the pediatric clients.