Today was a wonderful day. I got to observe therapists in action. I saw a very interesting case this morning. A woman with a right total hip replacement 11 months ago. She had a severe leg length discrepancy and came in complaining of left hip pain. It was a great opportunity to evaluate gait and I was able to film her and show it to the group on the big screen. Evaluating gait is something that they do not typically do. According to the therapists, the heel lift pictured below is small!!! The woman had the lift in her sneaker but the heel lift was so large, so was walking on top of the sneaker.
Another interesting case was a young man in his 30's that had a 'severe case of arthritis.' The edema was so great, he could not fit into a shoe. The X-ray came back with only minimal arthritis but this young soccer player will go in for an ankle fusion next week. As you can see from the photo below, the therapists are treating this case with ultrasound.
Todays class included evidence based rotator cuff and scapula strengthening. This proved to be very useful for the therapists since the typical treatment for all patients is modalities. Below is a photo of one of the PT's in his last year of college demonstrating sidelaying external rotation to hid patient during a case study. He is using the clinics 4# weight. (water bottle filled with sand.)
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| Me and the staff at Sabogal |
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| Me with the group of last year students from the University |
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| Raoulle and I (with my new jacket!) |
At the end of the day the group held a large party for me. This included dancing, a homeade Peruvian lunch (purple corn juice, sweet potatoes and a chicken dish made by one of the PT's wives), a large cake and gifts! One of the therapists asked when my birthday was earlier in the week I told her it was coming up-she tried to rephrase what she said, she was trying to ask how old I was. Anyway they ended up planning a large birthday party/thank you party for me today. It was great. Everyone was dancing, blowing whistles, waving balloons etc. The head physiatrist came down and presented a gift to me. He said 'many thanks for helping all of the people in Lima. The assessment and ability to have different skills is such an important part of physical therapy and I am so happy to know that you have given my therapists the knowledge to do it. I could never thank you enough.' He then presented me a Peru soccer jacket. Many of the therapists also spoke many kind, appreciative words. It made the entire experience worth it. I presented a few gifts to my translator, Maria who's hard work has been instrumental in making this week a big success. One of the gifts was a lobster hat from Maine. She thought it was quite funny. The end of the party consisted of each person (nearly 60) wanting an individual photo with me, as well as the entire group, and the group of last year PT students. I don't think I have ever had so many photos taken! Sabogal was a great experience and I left today with the satisfaction that I have given the students and physical therapists a lot of new knowledge to improve their quality of care.
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Maria with her new lobster hat haha!
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I have met so many wonderful people at Sabogal and I am grateful for all they have taught me.
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