Amanda had a man come with weakness and pain but she was not able to fully know what was going on with him without a formal diagnosis. She was able to work with him on exercises for strengthening and pain relief though.
We had an orthotic patient, Mary, who came as well. I was expecting to see Mary and had brought a plastic AFO (ankle foot orthosis) specifically for her. She is a school teacher who is standing much of the day. Her right foot is inverted (turned inward), and she has foot drop (unable to pick up her toes when walking). The brace I brought for her was modified to fit her and worked very well to correct her foot and make walking safer.
Amanda continuing the tedious task of burning holes in straps.
Protashow cutting out a prosthetic socket after final lamination.
Carolin working on fabrication with plaster.
John polishing a finished prosthetic eye.
Chris getting a model ready for the second lamination.
The "finished" area for prostheses.
On Tuesday, John had one eye fitting and prosthetic fabrication continued with an assembly line rhythm of sorts. I got models ready for first and second laminations and assembled the locks inside the sockets, and Chris did laminating. Protashow cut out sockets, broke out the plaster and then smoothed up the socket edges. Amanda and Carolin put together the final prostheses and gathered supplies and shoes for each patient. It was really awesome to have the assembled prosthesis with shoes and supplies in a tote bag for each patient for fitting days. It made the flow of seeing patients on fitting days much smoother.
Chris starting a lamination.
Working on Akim's orthosis. Akim is a young boy with a foot deformity and significantly shorter leg on the same side. This device supports his leg and foot and has a prosthetic foot underneath for the correct height.
John in his work area.
Amanda's patient with the hip and back pain came back. She had been wearing the heel lift in one shoe to level her pelvis and doing the exercises Amanda taught her. They did another therapy session on Tuesday.
Her hip range of motion had improved and she was pleased with the heel lift that makes her hips level. Love those smiles!
Protashow breaking plaster out of a finished prosthetic socket.
Papa Tembo stopped by the clinic to say hello. He's one of the house parents at New Day.
This is Florence, who also works at New Day. She came for her eye fitting with John on Tuesday. She still has her eye, so John was able to make a thinner shell to cover her eye with coloring to match her right side.
After fitting as John evaluates the fit and appearance.
Carolin working on prosthetic assembly.
John helped me with this orthotic device. The pink stuff is acrylic that John has, which we used to form a base for this AFO for Joyce, who has a severely deformed foot. She is currently walking on the top of her foot (imagine taking your toes and bending them down to fold your foot in half). This device is designed to put some pressure under her heel to lift the weight off the top of her foot while providing protection to her foot. (Finished pictures to come in a later post)
Carolin meticulously checking a prosthesis.
The "finished" area for prostheses is growing!
On the walk back down to the guesthouse after we finished working on Tuesday, Carolin and I climbed the water tower for some sunset pictures.
I love the sunset view from the water tower!
Next post: Wednesday, May 2: More eye fittings + the shipping container arrives!
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