Three weeks until graduation…we’re on the final unit of the semester: Upper Extremity Prosthetics!  We’ve learned a lot these first few days.  In order to understand how to don and use a harness, we got to put one on each other.  The terminal device (a Hosmer Hook) was attached to the bottom of a metal bar-stock “mock prosthesis.”

Once we got the straps untangled and properly connected, we figured out the shoulder and elbow motions that opened the terminal device.  We picked up objects, tried to put on jackets, and some classmates tried to play a game of catch with the ‘prostheses,’ too. 

Our first patient day was really interesting.  The patient I got to work with had a biceps cineplasty.  She showed us how she put her prosthesis on and then inserted the post into her bicep.  Then she flexed her bicep to open the terminal device.  My partners and I were in awe.  We were extra careful during casting so as not to accidently get plaster in the biceps insertion. 

It was quite a shock to go from a huge transfemoral cast, to a miniature transradial cast.  I felt like I needed tiny, little rasps and tools in order to modify properly!  The fabrication process is going quickly, though.  We’ll see the patients early this week for a fitting and critique.  But first, we get to play with foam!