New technology helps Kentucky patients relearn to walk

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UofL Health’s Frazier Rehabilitation Institute is the first in Kentucky to use a new system that is helping patients learn to walk again.

The ZeroG 3-Dimensional Body-Weight Support System supports a patient’s body weight while allowing them to practice movement in a safer setting.

One of those patients is Kaycie Jackson, a mother of three who has been in physical therapy at Frazier Rehab three days a week since undergoing a 10-and-a-half-hour surgery last February to remove two spinal cord tumors.

“I was in a wheelchair, had to use a Hoyer lift at home in the very beginning,” Jackson said.

Jackson said recovery has been difficult, especially for her children.

“It’s been very, very difficult. Especially with my twins, because they’re not old enough to understand why mom can’t do the things that I used to do,” Jackson said.

Lindsay Nalley, Jackson’s physical therapist, said Jackson has made steady progress.

“She has been an all-star patient,” Nalley said. “She has come from full-time wheelchair user to progressing, using a walker, to progressing to using a cane. And now, recently, she’s been able to go with no cane around her house and just started doing no cane for short distances outside.”

Nalley said it can help patients work on uneven ground and other movements that better reflect daily life.

“Since she wants to work on uneven ground and more dynamic things that are more simulating her real life, we can put her in a scenario where she’s safe,” Nalley said.

Jackson said the technology has been a helpful tool as she works toward walking without assistive devices. She recently reached another milestone: driving with her children in the car using hand controls.

“It’s been amazing to be able to drive again and get back and forth with my kids everywhere that they need to go,” Jackson said.

Jackson said she hopes to one day return to playing baseball with her children.

“Today has been a year and eight months since my surgery,” Jackson said. “But one day, yes, I will get back there.”

The ZeroG system is available for all patients at UofL Health’s Frazier Rehabilitation Institute.