What a truly incredible few weeks this has been. I feel so blessed and grateful to have had this opportunity. I thank God for putting it on my heart to come to Zambia.
First, I need to give a huge shout-out to the amazing Sam Singleton. He is the only member of our team that is a current licensed physical therapist (with his orthopedic certification as well). He has been a phenomenal teacher, resource, and therapist these few weeks. When we had questions, he has been there to answer, guide us, and challenge us to think clinically. After getting to know him personally, it’s even more clear as to why he makes a great PT. We could not have done this trip without him!
We saw a lot of orthopedic conditions this week... along with even more bone fractures. Many of the fractures we see are due to either kids playing soccer or falling off an ox cart. You’d be surprised how many times we heard that as the reason given for a broken bone. On Tuesday, we spent the entire morning in the operating theater. We assisted with 5 cases, 3 of which were young boys. It’s been an emotional time in the theater for all of the team members. There is a lot to share, but as I mentioned previously in another post, the hospital is in need of resources and specialized doctors.
Patient update! The 22-year old girl with generalized weakness due to HIV came back to see us. We had a plan to help her this week since we had more of our equipment with us. We placed knee immobilizers on each leg to give her support while standing and fitted her with a bright pink rolling walker that also has a seat. We went through her exercise program and showed her family how to help care for her. At the end of the treatment, we talked about her belief in God. I told her that the reason we are here is because we are followers of Jesus Christ. She said she believes too and our team prayed together with her. On her way out.. I said, “I hope you like pink!” referencing her new walker. Her response was, “it’s my favorite color!” Please continue praying for her complete healing.
We have seen so many patients... I wish I could give even more detail. Anyone from our team would love to share about our experiences in Zambia and the many different things we observed and treated in the clinic. At the end of our time, we gave all the Zambian therapists a GHO t-shirt and took pictures together. Enock immediately put his t-shirt on and said he was hoping we would give him one! We all are very grateful for our time working with patients in Zambia. We are sad to leave knowing the need that is here, but hopeful for opportunities that SBU DPT can return.
We plan to rest tonight and we’re looking forward to our excursion day tomorrow.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all.” Philippians 4:4-5
-Jacob
Yes but JT replacement they are primarily worried about infection at first. Rehab/therapy is necessary to re-educate the muscles. There will be follow ups at first for the wound check . At first shell probably thinking oh no why did i do this but will feel so much better that shell want to be too active. physical therapy thousand oaks ca
ReplyDelete