From: VERONICA P VAZQUEZ DE DEL CASTILLO veronicadelcastillo@gmail.com

Date: May 3, 2008 2:20 PM

Subject: ISABEL DEL CASTILLO

To: 'Dr Mal Hooper'

CC: raymundo del castillo raymundodelcastillo@googlemail.com

Isabella injured her spine in 2006 after a horse riding accident; classified T7/8 incomplete she has massive spasticity of her legs held fixed rigid.

‘Dear Dr. Hooper, 

Raymundo, Isabel and my-self wish you are doing great! It´s been almost a year since we were in Melbourne, and many small great things have been happening around  Isabel´s well being, and we will  like to share with you  what  Isabel has  been  going through, for we would like  if  possible to come back to Melbourne this coming July and August for  our  summer vacations and while there have Isabel working on the Lokomat and the hyperbaric chamber.
We have been considering either Switzerland or Australia for this summer, taking in consideration that Isabel even during vacations has to keep on with her rehab process, and the Lokomat and hyperbaric combination seem to us the most beneficial option for her.
In October 2007, Isabel was accepted at the Guttman Institute in Barcelona for a three month rehab protocol which included 45-minutes Lokomat each day. Her physiotherapist noticed after time that she was able to make a random step with one  leg and encouraged her to start in parallel bars with a harness to support herself and with the aid of electroestimulators to enable the step in the other limb and to help whenever the steps couldn't come out properly. Since then she kept on working and improving little by little.
Currently she can walk (pictured right) without the electrostimulators almost 250.meters! Doctors say that her walking is because of reflex movement that has been activated by Lokomat. Isabel is also able to stand up, still supporting herself in the parallel bars, and without any harness. She is working very hard to improve tone in dorsal muscles in order to get stability, and keeps up with the self walking exercise now with the help of a wheeled walking device. She is gaining tone and confidence. We are aware that there is  still a lot of time and effort involved in order for Isabel to keep improving, but we are positive and sure that at this stage there is a very optimistic panorama for her better being and we are strongly convinced that the Lokomat and hyperbaric combination have been decisive in her improvements. 

Spasticity is still a big issue for her independent life but it has lessened considerably considering what you saw while we were in Melbourne, we have observed that now the more she moves the less spasticity she now has which has greatly improved her day to day life! 

In this process there have been many other small, but great improvements, which we would like to share with you. Isabel and ourselves are very happy, confident and hopeful that she will keep on improving and very much aware that she has to put a great deal of effort and work very hard in order to achieve positive results, and above all she is completely certain and  confident about the  benefits of the hyperbaric and Lokomat combination.
We take this opportunity, to thank you and hope to continue with your protocol; please let us know if it is possible for Isabel to come for 6 weeks this coming summer, so that we can start making our trip arrangements. 

Our best regards - Veronica and Raymundo del Castillo