By Leyla Dursunova | Development Associate
Laguerre. 4 year old patient with Cerebral Palsy.
At 4 months of age the child had fever and diarrhea, but the mother did not take him to the hospital but medicated it at home because a neighbor told her that the child will heal with serum and aspirin.
When he turned seven months, the mother noted that the child was not sitting and not moving much so decided to take him to Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs in Tabare. They evaluated and explained that due to high fever which had when he was 4 months and since it was not treated properly the child had Cerebral Palsy. They consulted with the nutritionist at the Center since the weight of the child was not the suitable and referred him to physical therapy twice a week.
Mother refers that there they gave him food and physical therapy free but that after 6 months she had to start paying for services and, therefore, had to leave. She stayed home with the child, and was upset because the child was not developing fully, even though they occasionally did exercises at home.
Near their house there is an orphanage called Mexni and they gave the mother and the child food and one day in August of this year (2014) Group of volunteers arrived from Loma Linda University and evaluated the child. They said that the child needs some booties to be able to stand. The Manager of the orphanage took the mother and the child to the Adventist Hospital of Diquini, WRF/ProsthetiKa project.
“I am thankful because now with the booties (AFOs) he can stand and with the chair (seat of support) that I was provided I can let him sit a moment and do chores at my house. Thank God that this program and service I got is free, because I don't have the possibility to pay for all this.”
Marven. 3 year old patient with Agenesis femoral lower left limb.
The mother gave birth to the child in the Saint Teresa Hospital in Miraguane, and doctors did not explained nor said anything about what she only noticed when she got home: that the child had one leg shorter than the other. She went back to the Hospital to consult, and was referred to the Hospital General of Haiti. The doctors told that they will need to wait for the child to be older/larger to be able to operate the leg. She wanted a second opinion and went to the Hospital of Saint Vincent when the child was a month old, and was referred to the Adventist Hospital of Diquini for x-rays, and a complete assessment. They suggested revisions every three months to see how the child was evolving. When he was a year old the orthopedist referred the child to the WRF/ProsthetiKa program because the child was not yet walking. They made him an AFO with an increase of 3 cm.
The mom is concerned how the child will learn to walk with the manufactured orthosis. It was not easy but gradually he learned how to do it. Now we have a 3 year old return to change the orthoses, but the leg shortening is now larger so the technician made an orthoprosthesis device. At first, the patient at the time of delivery felt a little scared because it was something different than what he was used to, but his mom said that she was pleased with the work done. She was pleased to see how her son has evolved, and thinks he’s ready to start school, and that it will be an important step for him since he will be able to interact with more children his age.
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