The
Neuro Institute
At
the Neuro Institute, we are providing treatment, recovery and rehabilitation
for patients with acquired brain and spinal cord injury. We offer
a brand new, state-of-the-art facility in beautiful Arizona.
The
healing not only nurtures the body, but also soothes the soul. And
while the process of healing can be long and frustrating, the reward
of bestowing mobility and dignity upon a person outweighs any obstacle.
And
in the end, even if the body is still, in the right hands, the soul
still soars.
When
one walks into the Neuro Institute, the 6,500 square foot center feels
more like a state-of-the-art fitness club than a rehabilitation clinic.
The wide open space houses more than $100,000 in exercise equipment
specially modified for wheelchair accessibility and features a basketball
court and a climbing wall.
However, the Neuro Institute is much more than a community gym. It
offers specialized rehabilitation and therapy programs for patients
challenged with Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Cerebral
Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis and all forms of paralysis. The Neuro Institute
staff concentrates their efforts on improving patients’ daily
living skills through occupational, physical, massage and speech therapies
and integrate other skills, like driving, based on individual needs.
"We
want to give as many neurologically challenged individuals as possible
the opportunity for success," says Arnie Fonseca Jr., owner and
founder of the Neuro Institute. "We want every patient to have
access to their potential to get back into as normal of a life as
possible. We don’t promise any miracles, but we do believe they
can happen."
A
unique philosophy
In October 1995, Joe Slayton was involved in a car accident that left
him quadriplegic. He was hospitalized for four months and doctors
told him he would probably never walk again. He spent one year in
a Mesa outpatient rehabilitation program before he was told he had
hit a plateau in his progress. "They told me they couldn't help
me anymore," Slayton says. "I was out of therapy for about
five years before I started working with Arnie."
After nearly a year and a half of rehabilitation and physical therapy,
Slayton is now ambulatory with the assistance of a "quad"
walker and credits much of his recent success to his work with Fonseca.
"I
was kind of lazy before I started working out with Arnie," says
Slayton. "He pushes me to the maximum limit and gets me motivated."
Fonseca, an exercise physiologist, has been working with neurologically
challenged and brain injured patients for more than 12 years.
"Neurologically
challenged people have different levels of function," Fonseca
explains. "Some people have paralysis but still have some movement
or function. I want to find those people and challenge them to use
their function, and maybe even get them from an electric wheelchair
to a manual one. I want to work with the people who have been told
'We've done everything we can do for you.'"
The Neuro Institute's programs are individually designed to meet the
needs of each patient. Occupational and physical therapists work with
patients and their families to develop realistic goals and desired
outcomes.
"Even
if a patient is on a ventilator, they can still benefit from our program,"
says Fonseca. "There are still many things we can do for them."
"That's
how we operate. We never take "no" for an answer, we just
keep working with the patients on an individual basis until we find
the treatment that works best for them, and we get results."
