Anyone's Lesion L1/L2?

[valerie]

Hi All, i know no two sb cases are the same but i was wondering is anyone's lesion L1/L2, just want to know how they are doing as my baby is L1/L2 & just wondering what more problem they face than some one who has L3/L4

[Dodger67]

The higher the lesion in the lumbar area usually means they might be less likely to walk or need more bracing to do so compared to lower lesions. Just take us here for example: those who walk with just AFOs generally have L3-4 or lower. Some with L1-2 lesions are non-walkers or, like me, used to walk but as we grew heavier the bracing needed became too much to be worthwhile. I stopped when I weighed about 100lb/45kg and my bracing went from "tits to toes".
But as everyone is different you'll just have to wait and see what happens.
The nerves that run the bladder and bowel are from the sacral spine so the location of lumbar lesions doesn't make a significant difference.

[usolyfan]

Dodger, did you walk with RGO's?

[Dodger67]

Whats RGO?
At the end I had a lumbo-sacral brace and long "whole leg" orthotics.
Lightweight orthotics were new technology back then (early 1980s) before it was heavy steel and leather "calipers".
I only learnt the word "orthotic" here on this forum.

[angel]

same here dodger, i had mine in the early 80's and mine were the metal and leather braces to.

Angel

[eng188]

An RGO is a reciprocating gait orthosis. It is explained in the first paragraph in this article, with a pic.

http://www.centerfororthoticsdesign.com/isocentric_rgo/index.html

[sean]

Sorry can't help, I always thought my SB was L5 & S1-2. Just checked I'm L3-4, 4-5,5 and S1-2. I've always walked minor spazms and ticks and lack of sensation, as a kid cut my foot badly, had no idea until I was sloshing around in blood in the back of the car, Minor scrapes and injuries rarely felt. From the age of 40ish my legs my gait, strength, all changing. A combo of a tethered cord and getting old. Arthritis or tethered cord?, both a pain in the bum and below.

[dahliafaolan]

Oh God, those RGOs were horrible! I hated them so much when I was a kid. I'm a T-11 or T-12 and I've always been a nonwalker, no matter how hard the doctors tried with the stupid RGOs. If anyone has ever seen the movie Forrest Gump, that's what they looked like, only they made my gait look even worse. Think of how Frankenstein walks and that's how I "walked" in those things. I shudder when I remember those rotten things. I actually sang an alleluia chorus when they told me I couldn't wear them any more after I had my scoliosis rod surgery. I just never saw the point of them. I always saw them as a sadistic attempt to "normalize" me. They rationalized it with the flimsy reason that it would keep my bones from being brittle from not supporting my weight. Newsflash: I wore those torture devices for 7 or 8 years and I still have broken my leg four times.

Sorry for that little rant. There are very few things I am bitter about regarding my disability and that's one of them. I just always thought that they were trying too hard to make me normal when I was perfectly happy in my wheelchair.

But as for your question, from what I've seen, at L-1/L-2, they may or may not be a walker. It all depends what nerves are affected. There may also be some bladder and bowel issues. Anyone who knows for sure, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the bladder/bowel nerves run through the L-1 region so it's pretty likely there will be some bladder/bowel issues.

[janjanwhit]

I was told by a surgeon that the bowel and bladder nerves run through the sarcral region. So sb at any level always has some nerve damage to that area.

[Summer25]

I was told by a surgeon that the bowel and bladder nerves run through the sarcral region. So sb at any level always has some nerve damage to that area.

You are correct. The bladder and bowel nerves are in the sacral part. Learned this through human anatomy class...lol.

[valerie]

Thanks, Cian is incontinent, we have started cathing a few weeks ago to protect the kidneys as he has minor reflux in his left kidney. He doesnt have any movement in his legs, a little flicker of the toes every so often which i think is a spasm but otherwise he is a great happy little boy so fingers crossed he will be as healthy & mobile as possible....

[usolyfan]

Our daughter is three and has been walking with RGOs for a year and half. She looks forward to using her braces and loves to stand and walk like everyone else. We have seen a number of health benefits since she started walking. There is also research being done right now that suggests that children who walk first have fewer learning disabilities that those who never walk. Though RGOs are full body braces we hardly think of them as torture devices. They have opened up a whole new world for our daughter and for that we are extremely grateful.

[miss piggy]

our son is L1, we have been told that he will probably walk short distances with calipers and a walker of some sort or other, he is 13 months and has in the last couple of weeks started rolling....