The Combi Bike Plus provided results in just nine days
Kirsten Houmann was paralysed on the left side due to a stroke. But exercising with a Combi Bike Plus from Lemco Mobility, which was designed for stroke therapy, has improved her walking and eliminated the excruciating pain in her left shoulder.
Kirsten Houmann had a stroke one morning in 2006 while making coffee and preparing for work as a daycare mother in Gundsømagle, Denmark.
She goes to Roskilde Hospital, where you can try to remove the blood clot, but there was no thrombolysis treatment available. As a result, she then receives thrombolysis at Glostrup Hospital. However, she now gets a fresh brain bleed, which causes the brain to enlarge.
– I get extremely ill, and they didn’t have any idea why I’m bleeding or whether I’ll live, she says.
Kirsten Houmann suffers a left-sided paralysis and must now begin a “awful amount of rehabilitation,” in her own words. She is hospitalized for five months. The first half was spent at Roskilde Sygehus – which provided no genuine rehabilitation. The second part was spent in Vordingborg, where younger stroke victims with brain damage were being treated at the time. She was then 40 years old. Rehabilitation is beginning to take shape.
– After three days, I am equipped with a leg brace and am required to walk. It happens after two months of nothing happening at Roskilde, says Kirsten Houmann.
"Lame" physiotherapy
She is given assistance from a home counsellor who will teach her how to perform daily duties back at her Gundsømagle home. However, the physical training is insufficient.
Since I don’t get to exercise frequently, my body is beginning to deteriorate, she says. After a few more months, she begins her rehabilitation programme at the BOMI – Roskilde rehabilitation centre, where she receives both physical and cognitive training.
– Things are beginning to improve. However, it is a costly process, and the municipality has only granted me a three-month stay. Then I went to private physiotherapy, which I still do now, she says.
After a few years, she receives a stay at Vejlefjord Rehabilitation, where her cognitive and physical training is enhanced. And she feels well enough to work a few hours a week at a nearby kindergarten, despite the fact that she was entitled an early pension in 2007. She had the work for six years before admitting that it was getting too stressful, both physically and mentally.
A lecture at the Brain Injury Association
In March 2019, Kirsten Houmann began participating in the work of the Brain Injury Association. She meets CEO Carsten Lemche of Lemco Mobility during a presentation in Elsinore while he is bringing a Combi Bike Plus, a mobility exerciser specifically created for stroke patients to utilize while sitting.
– When I tell Carsten about my experience, he proposes that I try the mobility exerciser that others in my stroke condition have had success with. I try it on and think it’s insane. I sat on a chair with my left foot fastened with velcro so that I could pedal without my feet dropping down. My left arm simply lay in my lap, although it could also be strapped in and moved around. It felt amazing to be able to exercise and move a lot more, says Kirsten Houmann.
– After the lecture, I was utterly “high” when I got home. Of course, it was an investment, but I made the decision to acquire this Combi Bike Plus so that I could exercise more at home when it suited me. Additionally, I purchased a band for my left hand so that my paralysed arm can move, she says.
Quick results
-I immediately began intensive training, and I was also seeing a physiotherapist at the time. There, among other things, I got help for my excruciatingly painful shoulder, says Kirsten Houmann and continues:
-But I’m pedaling away and the arm is also exercised, and after nine days, I can stop my shoulder physiotherapy. My leg press had been set at 30 kg, but now it may reach 35 kg. I’ve grown a lot stronger in a short period of time, says Kirsten Houmann.
Due to the BEAT-technology, exercising with a Combi Bike Plus is done while seated in a chair or wheelchair and you go around with both arms and legs evenly threaded into the pedals (Bio Energy Accumulating Technology). At that time, according to Kirsten Houmann, she exercised three times a week and enjoyed pedalling up to 20 km each time she used the mobility exerciser.
Since then, Kirsten Houmann has not experienced any shoulder issues. She continues to exercise with her Combi Bike Plus and visit the physiotherapist.
– Although I can’t fully use my arm, the fact that it is pain-free means a lot to me. Additionally, Combi Bike Plus has improved my ability to walk and my leg strength, she says.
The objective is to take her friend for a long walk
Today, Kirsten Houmann is supported by a brace that extends from her left foot up to her thigh. It helps her walk. She claims she can walk up to six kilometres. During the times when the physiotherapist is closed, she intensifies her exercise with Combi Bike Plus. She continues to establish specific goals:
– I never leave home for holidays without a wheelchair since I have trouble walking long distances. However, the intention for this year was to prevent the wheelchair from being utilised over the holidays. I undertook, among other things, to take 5-6-kilometer walks around the zoos of Fyn, where I could stop for short rests on the benches, she says.
Kirsten Houmann, on the other hand, will not be satisfied until she can go for a walk with her best friend without having to worry about whether or not there are benches for her to sit on.
– That’s the kind of objective I need. That is what motivates me, says Kirsten Houmann.
In Bed Rehabilitation with the BedBike exerciser
Lars has greatly benefited from the Lemco bed cycle with special pedals in his rehabilitation process following an extended hospital stay.
