Reply To: CIDP grip strength

Larry, I summarized my case in another thread. It is a little over two years since the onset of my symptoms, and I have been walking without a cane for about six months now. My walking range is up to about a mile (although I don’t like to walj that far), or until my feet hurt so much I want to get off them. I first started walking with a cane in early February, 2011. At that time, my range was about two blocks and it was difficult. It was just good enough to take the bus to therapy.

At the depth of my weakness in October and November of 2010, my legs and feet were at zero for several weeks and the rest of my skeletal muscles below the neck were near zero for a few weeks. I couldn’t roll to the side unassisted.

My upper body strength returned fairly rapidly. Sometime in late November, 2010, I was able to get to a sitting position unassisted, starting from the 45° elevation of hospital bed. By the end of November, I could just barely get to my feet in the parallel bars, with therapists blocking my knees to prevent buckling. By mid December I could get up in the parallel bars and walk without assistance. Then I started walking with a walker, spotted by a therapist with a wheelchair behind me.

I went home in early January, 2011, in a wheelchair, but able to use a walker, and able to do transfers without being attended. This allowed me to function at home alone. I did about a month of home therapy in January, then was able to go out with a cane and ride the bus. Then I did outpatient therapy twice a week through the end of June, 2011. I continued to walk with a cane (outside only) until sometime in the spring of 2012, when I gave it up altogether.

My walking is not normal, but it’s close enough that it does not limit me in any important way. I’ll take it.