Report from the free O and P clinic in Ibarra, Ecuador after 8 weeks: A
teenage girl with bone cancer was carried into the clinic by her mother,
and walked out with an AK prosthesis a couple of days later.
http://www.oandp-l.org/shared/wkxov.jpg
A 16 month old girl with a congenital amputation is unsteady but fearless
on her new BK. http://www.oandp-l.org/shared/wgxwy.jpg
A farmer is looking forward to using a wheelbarrow with his BE prosthesis
and brought us 10 Kilos of bananas as a thank you. A 21 year old with
bilateral upper limb amputations (BE and AE) traveled 17 hours by bus to
get here and he will return to his studies in computer science after we
fit him. http://www.oandp-l.org/shared/yhzcd.jpg
On the same day, two patients arrived with bilateral lower limb
amputations, to be fit in the next two weeks.
Orthotic treatment lags behind prosthetics, and many polio patients, who
have never received orthoses are not able to be fit now because of severe
contractures or advanced age. A 67 year old woman has 90 degrees of knee
hyperextension, extreme leg length discrepancy, and such delicate balance
with her one old wooden crutch and her walking stick, that to change it
now, as she navigates her steep mountain home, seemed very risky. Another
challenge is fitting a young woman with an AK amputation in a leg already
weakened by polio, and accommodating her traditional clothing which are
layered and wrapped in a complicated pattern. We see 10 AK amputees to
every one BK, a large number of upper limb amputees, both traumatic and
congenital, but only one diabetic patient in two months.
http://www.oandp-l.org/shared/fihas.jpg
http://www.oandp-l.org/shared/mggub.jpg
We fit about 4-5 prosthetic patients each week and a number of orthotic
patients, mostly children.
Amazingly, the two employees of the clinic, Ivan, a very experienced
prosthetists/orthotist, and Luis, a prosthetic technician and skilled
machinist, had worked four months without a salary, but finally a grant
came through from the provincial government and they have received all
their back pay. http://www.oandp-l.org/shared/sbibu.jpg
We have been able to build work benches, construct a children’s area with
toys and tables, and purchase some basic tools. We are making a simple
wrist unit and we hope to fabricate our first terminal device this week.
We also have two designs for very inexpensive knee units and with the
addition of a metal-working lathe we hope to be manufacturing these parts
within a few months.
It is really interesting to see what we can do down here having one tenth
of the resources we have in the states. I concentrate on putting together
the components that we have in novel ways, working without standard tools,
accommodating unusual residual limbs, meeting rugged life style needs, and
helping patients who have very little other medical care. I don’t have to
think about billing, coding, earnings, scheduling, or competition, and am
focused on what brought me to O and P in the first place.
http://www.oandp-l.org/shared/vjhke.jpg
We are always looking for volunteers. We will be teaching a short course
of prosthetics for health professionals during the summer, with the aim of
increasing the number of prosthetists practicing in Ecuador (currently
fewer than 15). Dr. Luis Cifuentes, a physiatrist who has written
prosthetic and orthotic texts and teaches in Quito, will be assisting with
the course. I hope that some of you will volunteer to teach specific
aspects with us, for a day, a week, or whatever you could spare.
Professionals to work with us in the clinic are also always needed. Those
who have come down have had a great time and are remembered with great
affection and appreciation by the patients and workers here.
We also need used components. All of your generous donations are greatly
appreciated and greatly needed. We could not function without them. All
upper limb parts and children’s parts are in very short supply. I know
that many of you have been helping out in Haiti as well; let’s continue to
support our neighbors to receive these most basic and most life-changing
human necessities.
We will be here until April 7 – still time to join us! We will be
returning in August for another 3 months or so. Please contact Robert
Frank, CPO, [email protected] for inquiries or donations, or send donations
via FedEx or UPS to Robert Frank, 4265 McIntyre Rd., Trumansburg, NY
14886.
Thank you:
ALPS Corporation
The Barr Foundation
Bull Dog Tools
Euro International
Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics
Knit Rite Corporation
A Leg to Stand on Foundation
Limbs for Life Foundation
Mountains of Hope Foundation
Ohio Willowood
O and P Component Clearinghouse
Prosthetic Outreach Foundation
Rotary Concord California
Southern Prosthetic Supply
Trulife
TRS
