Braces

After it was decided in May that I would be fitted for braces it has been an entire summer of waiting. I had a session with my physical therapist and my orthotist both of whom agreed that the best choice was a Reciprocating Gait Orthotic or RGO. The RGO provides support not only for the legs but also has a piece on the back with a large bar which causes one leg to move forward when the other is moving back. My orthotist has been working with me in physical therapy to fit the device to my body.

They spent the first session looking at the leg braces and, after I stood for a while deciding to shorten the legs. Today the legs fit better and we spent a lot of time standing trying to find a perfect balance point. A major issue is that I have some contractures from a year in the chair which make it difficult to fully straighten my knees and legs. I have started more aggressively trying to stretch but full flexibility will take a long time.
The braces lock at the knees and at the hips. The first thing discovered is that the locks at the knees tended to catch on my chair making it difficult to keep the knees locked when I am trying to get up. When I sat down the next issue emerged - namely that the hips refused to unlock. The orthotist, about my size, will try wearing the braces and debugging the issue.
After an afternoon of adjustment, my physical therapist decided that after two sessions I should try walking. I have seen videos of several people with spinal cord injuries walking with rgos. I was impressed with the difficulty people had walking. I was surprised at how large a step I could take - too large to maintain balance easily. After that I walked the length of the parallel bars about four times. Navigating the parallel bars is easy. What things feel like when I am onl in a walker or hand crutches is a harder question.