The Mollii Suit
I first became aware of the Mollii suit on December 5th 2022 having seen something about it online. I did some research and saw some incredible YouTube footage of improvements, fellow MSers had realised. I found the UK distributors of the suit, Remotion Ltd and completed an online enquiry form at https://www.remotion.co.uk/contact/ in the hope of trying to see for myself what the benefits could be. My Assessment After what seemed to be an absolute age (that's impatience for you) I went for an assessment on Wednesday 22nd March 2023 in Huntingdon. To ensure we didn't arrive late we traveled up the night before and stayed at a hotel approximately 20 minutes from the centre (fortunately for the hotel this isn't a review of them - lets just say I wont be returning!).
Within about 20 minutes I realised I was able to lift my left foot for the first time in ages. To demonstrate this I gently kicked Hilary's foot a couple of times so that she also became aware. By this stage I was a bit emotional. Back in the main Consultation room we had a short discussion and I agreed to see what my walking was like using a set of parallel bars. Before walking though I obviously had to get up and out of my wheelchair. To my absolute delight (and probably to Hilary's surprise) I placed one hand down on the therapy couch next to me and stood up from a seated position. I seriously can't think when I was last able to achieve this simple function. Whilst standing there I was stood with my entire left foot on the floor. It is almost impossible to describe the emotion I was feeling inside me. For as long as I can remember my left foot is only ever on tip toes. I then turned to my left, to get lined up in the centre of the parallel bars and I took two steps forward. The feeling of relief inside me was so emphatic that I had to stop in order to compose myself and stop me from crying. I then walked to the end of the bars and Richard asked if I thought I could walk back to the other side again. I was more than happy to try but decided to also try something else. For the last "God only knows" how many months/years, if I turn around, I do so in a clockwise direction and normally by dragging my left leg around. This is because I favour my right side for balance. On this occasion though I decided I would turn anticlockwise just to see if I could. Guess what? I bloody well could and then proceded to walk to the other side, where I promptly turned around again (this time clockwise) and did two more lengths of the bar. By this stage I was very eager to find out if my legs were feeling different so both Richard and Hilary assessed (it's an advantage to have a qualified Sports Massage therapist as a wife). Both noticed an improvement in the right leg and whilst the left was still stiff it was also better. The rest of Wednesday was pretty much "recovery" time. Thursday got off to a very good start as for the first time in ages I slept undisturbed! Hilary bought my breakfast to me as she does every day and as I do every day I reached over to my left to get one of her pillows to place on my lap. The big difference this time though was that I had none of my usual problems gripping the pillow and placing on my lap all with my normally weaker left hand. At this stage I will warn you we are entering emotional territory. After almost every sentence that follows you can add the phrase "for the first time in absolute ages". For clarity "in absolute ages" means at least before Covid 19 but in many cases it means 5 plus years. 1 - Lifted left foot whilst seated to have sock put on. There was no need to lift the leg up with my right hand which is the norm 2 - Stood up from sitting position using only one hand for leverage purposes not balance and didn't need to hold something for balance 3 - Whilst in the bedroom I pushed my Rollator away from me and took 4 small unassisted steps 4 - Then went into the hallway pushed the Rollator further away from me and took 5 larger unassisted steps. There was much crying 5 - I could get up from sofa to standing in one movement instead of two (I normally go from sitting to arm rest then standing) 6 - I could lift left leg and bend at knee without doing so with my hands 7 - Able to move left leg around when seated to get comfortable, again without using hands 8 - Squeezed toothpaste out with left hand. This has been done right handed for a long time 9 - Had greater strength in left hand grip In addition to all those above 1 - Able to type with Index and Ring fingers of left hand. Not been able to do this for about 6 months so have been typing 1 handed 2 - Don't recall worrying about losing balance when standing 3 - Was able to adjust position in bed, moving left leg independently of right leg Furthermore the issue I really wanted to realise a benefit from was the 24/7 pain in my hips. Due to all the gains already mentioned I hadn't concentrated on this one so can't say for certain if it had improved. With some hindsight though I was certainly noticing an increase in pain in the hips by day 3, which suggests it had dropped in the 48 hours after "cooking" Next Steps I will now hire a Mollii suit for a period of 3 months to see the benefits of "cooking" every other day and then decide whether or not to purchase a suit to have with me permanently. Neither option is particularly cheap. Suit hire is approx £500 per month and full purchase is just over £5,000. Just need to figure out how to get the money.
Hilary decided she knew how to start the fundraising and set up a campaign at Go Fund Me. After less than a month she was proved right and we made the target.
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