Taking a Step Forward with Ekso NR™
2021
ROBERT: What's life about?
Really just raising my daughter and teaching
her to be a good person.
We play good together, and since I've
been the stay at home father, we just have a great connection.
She's my little best friend, and I wouldn't change any of it.
[STRUMS]
OK.
[PLAYING GUITAR]
(SINGING) Take a step.
Take one more.
Keep on walking through the door.
(SPEAKING) It started off with weird aches and pains
and numbness, and then I couldn't walk.
We had no idea what was going on.
My wife said, we're going to the ER.
When I was in the hospital bed, wondering if I'd ever walk,
I would say, I just want to get back to playing with my kid
and go on a long hike, and it hit me like a ton of bricks--
how did I get here, and why can't I move?
(SINGING) Things are dark, and you're so far down.
(SPEAKING) I didn't know what was happening.
I didn't know if I'd walk again.
It was really scary.
(SINGING) What was lost can't always be found.
(SPEAKING) I got a positive result
for the variant of the Guillain-Barre,
called Miller Fisher syndrome.
It's an autoimmune disease where the body gets confused
and shreds the nerves.
I got into Sutter Rehabilitation Institute.
PACITO YABES, MD: Robert's condition on day one,
he is requiring assistance.
You are physically helping him to even get up,
because of the weak legs.
LAUREN: He had some pretty significant weakness,
particularly in his lower extremities, but even more so,
some pretty significant sensory deficits,
so he didn't know where his legs were in space.
He didn't know if they were on the ground.
But I told him to be optimistic and hopeful.
I think that he has the ability to get stronger and get back
to normal.
ROBERT: Measured me and put me in the Ekso.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's an amazing technology.
You don't really think about how to take a step.
You just-- you just do it.
The Ekso breaks down those movements into separate parts.
I thought it helped a lot with my recovery.
LAUREN: The biggest benefit to Ekso
is that it gets people up standing quicker and walking
for longer periods of time.
Learning what a perfect step is even when you can't feel it.
I mean, it is priceless.
PACITO YABES, MD: Ekso will provide that muscle movement
again.
It helps build up their strength.
It helps provide that connectivity to that brain
again, so that they can make that normal movement when
they make a step.
It gives you that confidence to be able to move.
Sutler Rehabilitation Institute has
helped thousands of patients, not just
from the Guillain-Barre, but we have
taken care of stroke patients, traumatic brain injuries,
and spinal cord injuries.
We have an awesome staff.
Everybody has the same goal, to help our patients.
ROBERT: The therapy staff were just great.
They seem to really care about the people they work with.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Really just raising my daughter and teaching
her to be a good person.
We play good together, and since I've
been the stay at home father, we just have a great connection.
She's my little best friend, and I wouldn't change any of it.
[STRUMS]
OK.
[PLAYING GUITAR]
(SINGING) Take a step.
Take one more.
Keep on walking through the door.
(SPEAKING) It started off with weird aches and pains
and numbness, and then I couldn't walk.
We had no idea what was going on.
My wife said, we're going to the ER.
When I was in the hospital bed, wondering if I'd ever walk,
I would say, I just want to get back to playing with my kid
and go on a long hike, and it hit me like a ton of bricks--
how did I get here, and why can't I move?
(SINGING) Things are dark, and you're so far down.
(SPEAKING) I didn't know what was happening.
I didn't know if I'd walk again.
It was really scary.
(SINGING) What was lost can't always be found.
(SPEAKING) I got a positive result
for the variant of the Guillain-Barre,
called Miller Fisher syndrome.
It's an autoimmune disease where the body gets confused
and shreds the nerves.
I got into Sutter Rehabilitation Institute.
PACITO YABES, MD: Robert's condition on day one,
he is requiring assistance.
You are physically helping him to even get up,
because of the weak legs.
LAUREN: He had some pretty significant weakness,
particularly in his lower extremities, but even more so,
some pretty significant sensory deficits,
so he didn't know where his legs were in space.
He didn't know if they were on the ground.
But I told him to be optimistic and hopeful.
I think that he has the ability to get stronger and get back
to normal.
ROBERT: Measured me and put me in the Ekso.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's an amazing technology.
You don't really think about how to take a step.
You just-- you just do it.
The Ekso breaks down those movements into separate parts.
I thought it helped a lot with my recovery.
LAUREN: The biggest benefit to Ekso
is that it gets people up standing quicker and walking
for longer periods of time.
Learning what a perfect step is even when you can't feel it.
I mean, it is priceless.
PACITO YABES, MD: Ekso will provide that muscle movement
again.
It helps build up their strength.
It helps provide that connectivity to that brain
again, so that they can make that normal movement when
they make a step.
It gives you that confidence to be able to move.
Sutler Rehabilitation Institute has
helped thousands of patients, not just
from the Guillain-Barre, but we have
taken care of stroke patients, traumatic brain injuries,
and spinal cord injuries.
We have an awesome staff.
Everybody has the same goal, to help our patients.
ROBERT: The therapy staff were just great.
They seem to really care about the people they work with.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
When Robert’s legs began to feel weak due to Miller Fisher syndrome, he turned to the Sutter Rehabilitation Institute. There, he was introduced to the Ekso NR™ robotic exoskeleton, which helped him get back on his feet and to his family quicker.
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