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.

The week in review

We've been at it for a week with our full crew – myself, Erica Webster and Kevin Harrington, two other Hanger practitioners. We followed up with Schneily and everything went very well. He grew an inch so his socket was very loose. After lengthening and tightening the fit, we kicked the soccer ball in the alley and rode his bike. This kid is full of energy and endless smiles. The only thing that went wrong was I grabbed what I thought was my metric and standard set of Allen wrenches but upon arrival, I realized I had two standard sets. Unfortunately, the standard set wouldn’t work for the adjustments I needed to make on Schneily’s prosthetic leg. Luckily, I planned for my misfortunes on the road and I brought my Dremel tool; I found a power source off of a generator and sized down the standard set to metric. I was able to successfully make a 3mm out of the standard. The adjustments went on and everything worked out.

Last week we also observed the one-year anniversary of the earthquake; a beautiful day shining the light of the Haitian people on hope and perseverance.
We have had really busy days at the Clinic; patients are coming in from everywhere seeking our assistance. I don't have exact numbers, but I believe last week we did about 37 adjustments, fit 6 new limbs, and did 7 socket remakes due to the many adjustments and changes of the residual limbs over time. Wow, we have a standard prosthetic shop just like home! It is great to see the patients keeping appointments and coming in on their own for help. Things are working just as we planned.

The patient living quarters have improved as well. Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) has been working on a new housing development called Kay (house) 52. It is great; it has running water three times a day, working private plumbing, and electricity. It also has two long cover porches that will be great for gait training. Most of the patients walked to the clinic this morning. This is great practice for ambulating in our natural environment. The streets of Haiti are not a smooth floor like our clinic.

On a personal note, Sunday I attended a local church service. Rony Bern, an employee of our Clinic is also a local pastor. He has been helping to start a church in a village outside of Deschapelles. Myself, my family, Hanger employees in Baton Rouge, and my church back home, donated funds to start the roof of the church. My mom also sent musical instruments last year. It was really nice to listen to the children play them and sing. So far away, but still close to home.

Reflections – one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that forever changed Haiti

Today was everything it should have been. We met with our Haitian staff yesterday and asked them what they wanted to do. Jill (the head of physical therapy at the Hanger Clinic) and I didn't believe on a day such as this we should decide what was appropriate. The Haitian staff didn't want a party since there is nothing to celebrate. Instead, they wanted a happy day to highlight the good that has come over the past year – the spirit of the Haitian people to over come adversity and push on for a better life.

Our day started with music played by patients and local artists. I spoke of the beginnings of the Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation, getting to Haiti, and my personal feeling for the people of Haiti. I talked about how I have never known the true meaning of determination, compassion, humility and selflessness until now in life. I also spoke to the road of the Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation towards a Haitian-run Clinic.

Our technicians spoke of their love for their people and Hanger for giving them the opportunity to help the people of Haiti. They never would have dreamed in their life they would have such an honor.

Patients including a bilateral above-the-knee mother and a young bilateral girl spoke of their triumph to regain their lives and an above-the-knee male patient expressed his appreciation. A bilateral man also ran out of the grounds and back to show his ability with his new prostheses.

The art school that is located in our backyard performed an act about the quake and cholera outbreak.

We finished by hosting a reception at Kay (house) Hanger.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette joined us for the special day as well as another photo journalist. WBRZ-TV, a television station from my hometown of Baton Rouge conducted a lengthy phone interview with me shortly after the activities ended. They were very pleased to hear of the Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation’s efforts. I thanked them for staying with Haiti because so many have forgot but the Haitians still need our prayers and aid.

If you’d like, you can check out the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article here and the WBRZ-TV news story here. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also posted some great photos of the one-year anniversary ceremony which you can see here.

Today was an emotional roller coaster and I am grateful I was here to ride it. I couldn't imagine another place on Earth I would rather be right now.

First Hanger Clinic lead practitioner Jay Tew returns to Deschapelles for another clinical rotation

Jay Tew, CP, was the first prosthetist to serve a three-month term as lead practitioner at the Hanger Clinic in Deschapelles. The Clinic achieved notable success and outstanding patient outcomes under the leadership of Jay, providing prosthetic care to 300 Haitian amputees in just three months. Following Jay’s return to the States, two other Hanger practitioners served as lead prosthetist including Anna Avakian, from Washington, DC and Vern Hostetler from Zanesville, Ohio. By the end of 2010, under the leadership of Tew, Avakian, and Hostetler, the Hanger Clinic provided prosthetic care to nearly 700 Haitian amputees. Today Jay returned to the Clinic to serve a 6-week term as lead practitioner. Stayed tuned for updates from Jay during his time in Haiti.