Another great week at Klinik Hanger

Since we had Sunday off for the election, I took the time to introduce Amir and Amy, our new clinicians, to our Klinik. I walked them through the process and when patients arrived on Monday, they were ready to go. A number of these patients were those who were casted the week before, including Richard and Derilus.

Richard is a young bilateral above-knee amputee that was injured in an electrical accident. Bilateral amputees are always challenging, but bilateral above-knee patients are particularly tough. He was cast by Michael and myself last Thursday and will soon be fit.

Derilus was fit by Amy. He was so anxious and full of energy that his first steps were better described as a jog instead of a walk. We knew this patient would be a go-getter because before he was fit with his prosthesis he could not sit still in his chair for 2 seconds. Every time I passed by he would point at his limb and ask if I was done yet. So when the time came, we fit him and cut him loose. After only 3 – 5 minutes of alignment adjustments, he started working on his dance moves. He was quite the entertainer. If he wasn’t dancing, he was jogging. If he wasn’t jogging, he was doing a back flip in the parallel bars. By the end of the first day, he was riding a bicycle up and down the walkway in front of the clinic. He did so well that we applied his cover the next day, and away he went.
Next week we are looking forward to getting Richard on two feet again and will be welcoming a new set of practitioners by week’s end. It’s always exciting to see what the new week will bring.

8-year-old Neika Love

One of the most memorable patients from the week is 8-year-old Neika Love. Neika suffered the loss of her left leg above-the-knee, as well as the loss of her father in the earthquake. Holly took a plaster hand cast of Neika and I modified the mold the next day. Typically, the patients are casted in Port-au-Prince and will make the trip to Deschapelles for their fitting and therapy. But on this particular day, since many patients made the trip out for casting, they will stay at HAS and be fitted early the following week.

Neika was one of those patients who would stay. By the time we were ready to fit her prosthesis, excuse me… “faux pie”, as she would put it, it was clear that her time waiting was not wasted. Typically, I walk the patients through the process of donning their socks and the socket, but Nieka had a different plan. She snatched the prosthesis away from me and quickly went through the routine she had seen repeated countless times by other patients over the last few days. She did everything correctly, brushed me aside, and was on her way. I had to chase her down just to make some minor alignment changes. Within the first five minutes she was walking up and down ramps, up and down stairs, and outside of the clinic along the gravel roads. She was so good that later in the day I caught her walking down the road playing with an mp3 player that one of our techs gave her to use. She was quite an amazing little girl.

We had fun playing with her over the next few days; we spent time painting behind the Klinik and writing our names on each others hands. I was sad to see her go, but even more sad that I didn’t get to say goodbye; she left while I was working in the lab. I know I may not see her again, but at the same time, I know she will be back. Just four days after receiving her faux pie, she would use it to begin the next phase of her life. As she grows, she will need to be refit with a new prosthesis, and it makes me happy to know that the work that has been done to establish this Klinik will allow it to be here in the future when she needs it. Best of luck, Neika.

Wrapping up week 2

Saturday brought an end to Michael and Holly’s two weeks here in Haiti. We usually rotate practitioners in and out on Sunday, but this particular Sunday was the Haitian presidential election. I learned earlier in the week that travel was not permitted between geographical departments, so the folks back home adjusted the travel arrangements for both the incoming and outgoing groups, a task that was further complicated by spring break in Miami. But, after all was said and done, it was another smooth transition from one group to another, and once again, a two-and-a-half hour trip back home to Deschapelles from Port-au-Prince. Luckily, I spent a good portion of the last three years traveling two hours to see my wife on the weekends. That’s a long story which finally ended on March 1st of this year. At this point I have to say “sorry” to my wife because three days after we were reunited; I left her again to come here. That fact was difficult to bear, but I know she will be here to visit soon.

A look back at my first week as lead practitioner

Monday I introduced our newly-arrived rotating practitioners to the Clinic. Our first patient of the day was a gentleman who is a bilateral below-knee amputee who lost his legs approximately 11 years ago due to an infection. He arrived by motorcycle and walked into the Clinic with no problems. I guess I should clarify something here – when he walked in, he had not yet been fit with his prostheses. Eleven years of walking on bent knees afforded him a nice ½” thick callus pad to walk on, and a bit of independence. He was able to dismount from the motorcycle without assistance and walked across our concrete floor to the fitting area. There Michael and Holly, two volunteering clinicians, proceeded with his first prosthetic fitting ever. The fitting was certainly challenging, as many bilateral fittings are, but the short length of his remaining limbs didn’t give us much surface area to work with. After several adjustments, it was time to walk. He pulled himself up in the parallel bars and away he went. It only took 3 or 4 passes in the bars, and a few alignment tweaks, before he signaled that he wanted to walk outside the bars. For his own safety. we felt it was best to slow him down a bit at that point, but he would be back soon for physical therapy and gait training. Not a bad end to our first day!

When our technicians returned on Wednesday, it was clean-up time! We all pulled together to straighten up the exam and fabrication areas. This may surprise my wife because she would be the first to tell you that I HATE to clean! But, it was certainly rewarding to get rid of the clutter and have a nice, well-organized shop to work in. Then, back to inventory. Thankfully, it was cut short again by a couple more first-time patients. Holly took charge on the fitting of our first above-knee delivery, and Michael headed towards the first casting. I bounced back and forth between the two to help wherever I could. Since I have been here before, and will be here for 3 months, I wanted Michael and Holly to experience as much as they could, other than inventory.

The casting also provided another welcome experience – cast, modify, fabricate, and fit a patient from start to finish. One of the best memories I have from my rotation last September was being able to fit a patient that I had casted during the first week. You see, the typical routine is that you either fit a prosthesis that a previous rotating practitioner casted, or you cast a patient that the next group will fit for you. So the opportunity to start and finish a patient fitting is an exciting one. But the prospect brought back memories of Kensyon, the only patient I cast and fit, during my first rotation, and I wondered how he is dong. He had an amazing story surrounding his amputation. I learned that he underwent not just one, but two amputations, both of which were caused by Tap-Tap accidents. The result of the first accident was that he lost his leg below-the-knee. The second led to a revision above-the-knee. He did amazingly well and took only one step with a crutch before he handed it back to me and said he wanted to do it by himself. Sorry for the flashback, but it is amazing how vivid the memories of this place are once you leave. I have a picture of Kensyon hanging in my office in the U.S. and I will never forget him. I hope he is doing well.

Thursday and Friday rounded out the week with a few more patients. The cause for a joyous celebration was that the inventory was finally complete! We also got word that there were four new castings scheduled for Saturday. Unfortunately, when Saturday came, the patients didn’t. A car issue prevented them from making the trip, but they are supposed to come sometime next week. We look forward to their arrival. Fingers crossed that next week provides us with the opportunity to help as many people as we can.

Getting reacquainted with the Hanger Clinic

A large Carnival was celebrated on Monday and Tuesday, so our local Haitian technicians were able to take a few days off. I think the timing was good for me though; I had a chance to get reacquainted with the routine – the rooster crowing at midnight, the kids playing tennis across the street at 6am, and the electricity shutting off and on for a moment signaling the welcome arrival of running water. It also allowed Vern and me to go over some details of the operations that are specific to the clinical leader. Luckily, my previous experience made me aware of the day-to-day operations, so we just had to fill in some details. Of course, there is an excellent support staff available to answer any questions I have, and I thank them for it.

Arriving in Haiti for my three-month term as lead practitioner at the Hanger Clinic

Last year Hanger practice manager Brandon Khoury, CPO, LPO from Quincy, Illinois volunteered at the Hanger Clinic in Haiti for two weeks, and is currently serving a three-month term a as lead prosthetist at the Clinic.

My first week back in Haiti has come and gone. As I look back, the thing that sticks out the most in my memory is how easy it was to come back. There was an overwhelming feeling of comfort as we pulled up to Kay Hanger. Similar to the feeling you get when you return home after a long, tiring, road trip. There are few places in my life that give me that feeling, but this is definitely one. As easy as it was to come back, it was actually not that easy for me to get here. Let’s just say that I have the honor of being the first and only Hanger practitioner to get bumped from a flight heading towards Haiti; but in the end, I made it to Port-Au-Prince and began the long car ride to Deschapelles. That night, there was a going away party by the pool for the departing clinicians. It was nice to see my friends Joel, Cira, Tcho, and Alex again. Everyone here says “hi” to Mark, Jeff, Paul, and Vern. Thank you all for your time and help here. Oh, and Tcho says Pi….. never mind…. inside joke.