Gait Training in Haiti - A Great Friday!

A Great Friday: Gait Training in Haiti!

Today we were expecting only about two of our patients to return to the clinic as many had been sent home due to the cholera outbreak. We were pleasantly surprised as a van pulled up with two boys from an orphanage in a neighboring town arrived with Ann their caretaker. One of the boys was 6 and the other 16. The 6 year old had to relearn how to get his prosthetic heel down first and then keep his knee straight when he walked after some adjustments. He was a quick study. The other young man had a PFFD situation of some sort where he had one regular sized leg and one mini leg. This challenge did not bother him, but without prosthesis, he would suffer terrible hip and back pain. His prosthesis looked like a there were two feet in bunk bed position. Cosmetically it looked odd, but could easily be covered by pants. Functionally, there was no stopping this kid! His adjustments involved enlarging the top foot to accommodate for his growth since last April. He also needed inches added to his pylon as he had grown taller overall since last spring. The next thing we knew a man arrived on his horse for an adjustment which involved re-gluing his cover. This man’s goal was to be able to walk up the mountain to his house – typical gait training here in Haiti!

After we organized everyone and were sure they were safe on level surfaces, we were off in mass to the tennis courts where we were able to practice gait on the lines, sidestep, tandem walk, retro walk, then run, then walk on the wall around the tennis courts, over the tennis net, and under it. We played follow the leader with close corner turns. It was an exciting and fun time. Several other patients also showed up making for a fun morning.

After lunch things were pretty slow. I was able to have a Creole lesson with some of the lab workers, check email, and go for a swim. It was a great end to a wonderful week.

The nurses from Mass General are working hard in the hospital. The Haitian nurses I live with are now catching onto the fact that we need to fill the rain barrel between 6:00 – 7:00 am and pm if we all want water for showers. Nevertheless, it is great to jump in the pool at the end of the day! Tomorrow our adventure to St. Marc begins at 10:00 with the prosthetists.