Life isn’t the same for one retired elementary principal, however, for a few minutes each week, it’s close.
Diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a rare form of muscular dystrophy, Sue Goehring’s muscles progressively weaken. Medicines and therapy will not help her improve, though they can slow the course of the disease. Since Goehring’s diagnosis 15 years ago, the former fast-pitch softball player now can walk only with assistance.
The Liko Lift system at Jamestown Regional Medical Center gives her the freedom to stroll again.
“I’m standing, I’m standing!” she said with a smile during an appointment with JRMC Physical Therapist Cody Champagne. “I like-o this Liko Lift.”
Liko Lift helps with mobility issues
Liko Lifts help patients stand upright. It adjusts up and down for balance and can make people with mobility issues feel like they are actually on their own two feet. For Goehring, the strength she maintains is worth the trip she and her husband, Al, make each week from Wimbledon. The couple has grandchildren and she wants to ensure she is healthy so she can spend time with them.
Prior to working with Champagne and the Liko Lift, Goehring had gone without the feeling of walking. She said it was wonderful to be weight-bearing again – even if only a few moments each week.
“It is important to keep weight-bearing activity to benefit her body,” Champagne said.
Champagne joined JRMC in 2010. He took it upon himself to learn more about body myositis and how he could help. The research he did on her behalf is touching, Goehring said.
“He’s like my son. He’s such a nice man,” she said.
Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance programs pay for this kind of treatment when the therapy is required to maintain the patient’s functioning and requires a qualified therapist to be safe and effective.
To learn more about the Liko Lift or therapy at JRMC, call (701) 952-4800.
[caldera_form id=”CF5cae26e1d7847″]