Mobilize the World Travel Physio Blog: Clinic and the weekend

Did not have any connection to the outside world for a few days.

On Friday we woke up to a monsoon. It rained so hard that we almost couldn't get a taxi and once we did the roads were so flooded that we had to take 3 different routes to finally get to the hospital. The clinic opened late again because everyone had such a hard time making it in. I worked with more patients that have Erbs Palsy. It was great to see some of the same patients to not only work with them again but also to learn more treatment techniques and also teach the therapist some of the techniques we use at home. I also learned from some of the nursing students at the Work the World house that the birthing process is rushed here and the doctor tends to pull the baby before letting it turn in the pelvis to clear the shoulders causing the increase in cases. The Physio also said that they treat all patients in the area with this condition and that another local hospital has tons of cases.

I also worked with a few patients that have had CVAs and educated the therapists on shoulder strengthening and stability to decrease the sulcus sign and shoulder instability. They did not have a sound understanding of the anatomy so we sat down to draw the muscles and pointed on the Physio students/ interns bodies where they were and how they worked to stabilize. Also educated on isometric exercises and the progression of exercises as the patients improved. Today was really rewarding in that I felt that I had a purpose of my trip and also built a stronger bond with the staff.

I know very little Fante but I have been trying to use it when I'm walking around the hospital, on runs, in the taxi, and with patients. They have been laughing at me

But all are very shocked and complement me on my effort and can tell that this little attempt is making me fit in more.

In the afternoon 18 of us (17 girls and myself) began our 4 hour drive on a Tro Tro from takoradi to kokrobite. It was one of the girls birthday so we stayed at a little beach place. We had 5 rooms but one was infested with bugs from the storm and the roof leaked all over the beds so we crammed 18 people in 4 rooms. Being the only guy I did not have to share a bed but I did get the smallest bed so I had a nice sleep in a ball covered in the mosquito net. I told every girl that if they needed anything at night to come wake me up. At 4 am I felt a tapping on my side, opened my eyes and no one was there. Instead the roof of the hut was leaking on me from another huge rain. I spent the rest of the night using a shirt to catch the water. We spent the next day relaxing, went on a run, swam in the beach, and getting to know everyone. At night we watching live African drums and dance, hung out, and watched the World Cup on a projector. On Sunday we returned to the house after a long cramped Tro Tro ride and met the new 6 students who arrived.

Today was another great day in clinic working with more pediatric patients on my own. Having to get my own flow and using the students to translate, and lots of hand gestures and simple words to get concepts across to family was very fun and challenging. I also worked with a therapist who was treating a patient post a laminectomy with some paralysis. The chart said 2+/5 strength in bilateral lower extremities which made no sense so I decided to do a mini eval which showed 4-/5 and 4/5 in both legs. I decided to push her and increase the difficulty of the exercises as she had no pain and had no problem with the current program. She did a great job and actually showed fatigue at the end of the session which made me feel like improvement was made. I educated the primary therapist on the changes and he said he will use some of the ideas and would like me to keep working with her and he was unsure what someone with a laminectomy could do as he has only heard about it in books. The last patient of the day was 7 months post a stroke. Tried to get creative to make an AFO to help with his foot drop with ace wrap and looking for any ideas that can be made with wood. I wanted to try to metal strutt idea with his shoes but cannot get any material cheap around here to do that. If anyone has an idea let me know!!

Live music and dance