Ricky Palermo's Golf Tournament To Cure Paralysis
Ricky's Updates
July 24th 2010After a year of waiting for the results of the Reclast infusion, Ricky went from a negative bone density to a positive bone density which now means he has no signs of osteoporosis. Ricky's doctors were pleasantly surprised to see these results. Ricky recently went down to the Miami Project in Miami, Florida, to visit his niece Annie, who had been interning at the Miami Project this summer, as well as to see the new facility for his first time. While there he was able to experience the Lokomat for over 9 minutes which is double what was expected. (Ricky attributes this to the use of the bike at the YMCA in Batavia, NY) Designed for people with paralysis, the Lokomat is a treadmill still in the testing stages, but is very popular with the researchers. There are two weeks left until this year's tournament, but donations of all kinds are still coming in daily to Ricky's Tournament, which will be held on August 7th. If you'd like to be part of the cure that is taking place you can send your donation to him.
First off the Ricky Palermo Foundation would like to thank you for another successful tournament. We managed to raise about $60,000 this year for spinal injury research. Also just this month it has been announced that Ricky Palermo will be honored by UMMC and the Jerome Foundation as well at the 25th Annual Health and Humanitarian Award. The article in the Batavian, can be found here.
Since last fall, Ricky had a bone density test that revealed he had osteoporosis, or the weakening of the bone/bone density, to the point where something had to be done to prevent further problems. He was treated with Reclast, an osteoporosis drug treatment, which was given through an IV infusion. This simple procedure occurred on April 1st, 2009. Within three months some bone growth is expected from this treatment. However the doctors will not be checking until eight months after the last DEXA-scan. The Miami Project has been notified of these developments and are using Ricky as a case study, as he is the first to have this procedure done, as no spinal injury patient has ever reported their results of this treatment. Dr. Mark Nash of the Miami Project researched the Reclast treatment option with Ricky.Throughout the treatment period Ricky has been riding his bike at the YMCA, 3 times a week for 30 minutes. He covers about six to seven miles per visit. Also Ricky and his many helpers have been working diligently on the upcoming annual Sports Clinics and Golf Tournament fundraisers, on July 31st and August 1st respectivly.