|
Looking
Forward
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| Jen
can straighten her legs while sailing, giving her greater
stability. |
Jen
now uses her FES system to exercise up to three hours every
day. Merely by standing for as long as 45 minutes at a time,
she fends off osteoporosis and skin sores. Jen is equally
grateful for the freedom and mobility she gets from the standing-transfer
system.
"After
over two years, the current system is so integrated into my
daily life," says Jen. "I can't image life without the liberty
to get out of the wheelchair."
"The current system is so integrated into my daily
life," says Jen. "I can't image life without the liberty
to get out of the wheelchair."
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In
addition to keeping her body healthy and giving her the freedom
to do everyday things, FES also helps Jen take part in some
of the hobbies she loved before her accident. Always an avid
mariner, she now uses her standing transfer system to help
her sail. And in October 2001, as we see in the segment "Nerves
of Steel", Jen used FES to walk down the aisle at
her own wedding.
"The
wedding day went beyond my expectations," Jen recalls. "The
best advice was from Mary Buckett from the FES Center. She
said to take my time going down the aisle and enjoy every
second. I took her advice to heart."
| |
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| Jen
and her father start down the aisle. |
Jen
practiced at the church months before the wedding day until
she was comfortable in the knowledge that she would be able
to walk down the aisle and stand for the entire ceremony.
When the big day came, she focused her mind on the system
and ran through last-minute checks, like a pre-flight checklist.
"I
think my dad was more nervous than me," says Jen. "Once I
stood out of that chair, I left it behind. For 25 minutes,
I was no longer paralyzed."
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|
"I
couldn't get the smile off my face," reports Jen.
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Jen,
who now goes by Jen French, still keeps in
close touch with the doctors and researchers at the FES Center
she came to know during her clinical trial. Though she's happy
with her current standing transfer system and has no further
procedures scheduled, she is keeping tabs on their progress
on a walking system. Athletic and determined, Jen is also
full of ideas.
"I
have a tendency to push the system beyond what it was designed
to do," she says. "The FES Center has a great team of scientists
willing to listen and take advice directly from their users.
I can only encourage them to think outside the box."
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