After I got used to donning and doffing that whole setup by my self ,it was
easier to play. I did my work thing and sometimes wore the braces to work and I
would like to wear them to restaurants and to shows et.c. and overall it became
pretty much second nature to be wearing them for most of the day ,and when Mary
would come over we would choose which braces we would wear that night ,and
where we would go, and what to do after we got back,well that part was easy.
Mary worked at an office ,and they did things like organize your business and
do payroll and equate efficiencies an all of that sort of stuff ,so she could
wear any brace she wanted and most of the time she wore her Milwaukee,the
Minerva ,or a Florida . My work was just a might different in that I would be
able to wear only a certain brace on a certain day ,Mondays for instance were a
.f .o. day, Tuesday was Milwaukee brace day,wednesday was a little more
difficult as it was halo day , thursday was hip,shoulder and neck brace day,
and friday was hkafo day ,so you are reading this and wondering how this all
works out ,well I had learned the orthotics technician business and currently
work for one of the largest orthotic labs in the state and ,on those days ,I
wear the type of brace that I will be fitting ,you see I found that if a
patient is getting one for the first time ,and if he/she sees the fitter in a
similar device ,it tends to set their mind at ease ,and also adds a greater
degree of credibility to the oft times used "I know just how you
feel" or "it is not really all that bad "and several other
things fitters say to their clientele to promote compliance with a specific
regimen for treatment.For the medical users a brace that is not worn is not a
good situation. If it fits and is customized to the patient and is judged to be
functional and easily disguised from view it will be worn to the completion of
the prescribed course of treatment this is a good thing ,but if it sits in the
closet or hangs on a hook and is not worn ,this is a bad thing ,so I wear what
ever it is that I will be putting on the patients that day ,and by doing so
have actually increased compliance by 37% over the other fitters who do not
wear "demos "as they are called in the profession
(demos=recreationals) so I get to wear a bunch of different braces and
appliances for the "benefit" of my patients.what a deal, getting to
wear new braces ,and, get paid for it as well !
Well one day I went into work in a Milwaukee and my boss comes in to my fitting
room and tells me that he thinks what I do for my patients is a really cool
idea but, that the example of the milwaukee brace I use is outdated ,and that
if I am going to be correct about this ,I should at least have a current model
and I of course agreed but stated that I could not afford a new brace at this
time then Dan, my boss,said that because I have increased compliance with my
patients ,the company would build it for me for free.Well I just about fell
over backwards at that news and asked when they were planning to do this little
project ,and Dan said "how about right now ?,so I looked at my appointment
book and saw that I was open 'til 4:45 and the time now is 7:30 so I said
"sure lets do it .So I doffed the old brace and went into the fitting room
,got into a pair of casting shorts and some stockinet and Dan and Jerri came in
to do the plaster work .Well being a tech ,I of course wanted to help ,but they
insisted that it will go quicker if I just pretend that I am a first timer ,so
I said o.k. and just laid there and let them do all the work .First Dan applied
about 45 pounds of traction to my neck and sixty to each leg and fifty to each
arm .I was then left alone for a little over and hour and a half whilst things
stretched out .after I was all pulled out they started to wrap plaster around
my feet then onto the ankles ,knees and thighs and on upto my waist ,torso,
shoulders ,and ,when they came to my throat I thought that they would just stop
there ,but they kept on going around the back of my head ,then my forehead and
on down my arms . Well this a lot of plaster for just a milwaukee I said ,and
Dan said that he thought ,as long as we(they) had me here as such they would do
the entire cast in case they wanted to make additions at some point down the
road ,so I figured that if they wanted to do that ,who am I to argue
,especially for the price .As they were just finishing me up a phone call came
in for them to fly out to an outlying hospital to do a halo for an accident
victim. Dan came in and broke the news thus" You are probably gonna hate
me for this ,but we just got a call from Community hospital and Jerri and I
have to fly over there to do a halo and take some other casts for the eight
accident victims involved in the crash ,we will be back saturday morning to cut
you out of this ,but for right now we must leave immediately ,sorry "
Sorry ?,one of the things I have always wanted to try was total body plaster
for a day or two ,o.k. so I was getting it for four days ,and was getting a new
milwaukee out of the deal ,nothing to be sorry for ,of course I didn't say that
to Dan but I sure was thinking it awfully hard.When the receptionist came I
asked her if she would call Mary at work and she agreed,and after Mary arrived
and saw me totally casted ,she was ever so slightly envious and asked what the
story was ,so I told her the deal,and she became even more envious and then she
asked about the traction and I said that as the plaster was set and mostly dry
that she could remove it and she informed me that she already had and that I
was in for the duration.. I told Mary where my keys were and she said that she
would take care of me whilst I was in this cast ,but she expected me to do one
for her when she had the time off and I said I would .Well unfortunately for me
Dan and Jerri came back a day early ,when I asked what they were doing back so
early Dan said that the doctor there said that one of the cervical fracture
victims had expired in the night ,of complications and one of the leg fractures
had been flown out with heart problems on a chopper so that took care of two of
the most difficult cases ,so they finished early and decided to come home and
let me out of my "little plaster prison" Which I was enjoying to no
end .so Dan got out the cast saw and was just starting to cut ,and the phone
rings ,as it is prone to doing ,and this time dan and Jerri had to rush back to
their apartment building for some reason and they were gone for almost 8 hrs
,another reprieve ,but they came back again anyway and Jerri started to cut and
tell me all about why they had rush out so quickly ,because there was a fire
alarm coming from their side of the building ,and it turned out to be a fire in
the boiler room so they had smoke damage ,what with the oil that fires the
boiler,and a motor and the 2400 pounds of newspaper the stupid landlord stores
down there well the fire department closed the building for the week and these
two had to find another place to sleep for the time being .Meanwhile I am still
stuck to the casting table and have been for 96 hours in a row and loving it
,but as is the case with all good things ,this too came to an end Dan finally
found enough time to get the job done and freed me from my little heaven,oh
well it was fun while it lasted ,it did ,however feel strange to have weight on
my legs and feet once again ,or more specifically ,to have all of the weight
pulling in the same direction as opposed to the traction and the cast .
Well after four days Dan calls me on the intercom to inform me that my new
brace was ready to fit ,so I went over to the lab to try on my new toy ,and
when I walked in ,there was Dan and Jerri and the brace(s) .I must have looked
pretty astounded ,because Dan asked if I would like to sit down for a minute
,and I did. these were absolutely beautiful ,not just polished but highly
glazed ,mirror finished and the leather was all hand tooled and there was some
color as well ,so when I could form complete sentences I asked "why all of
the glitz? and Dan said "most of your patients are kids with scoliosis ,
and the occasional round backed adult ,we thought that if they saw what a work
of art this brace could be they might want to have some of it on their own
braces ,and thus add to the compliance rating you already have going ,what do
you think?? "I think you could possibly be correct in your assumption ,who
in the world did this exquisite work ,and Jerri said that her brother has been
doing it for years and as a favor he came in one saturday and buzzed it out for
us. I understand the premise ,but what will he charge on a regular basis? Jerri
said that he would only charge at the rate of $7.50/hr and all the kids he
could meet and the occasional cup of that black stuff we remotely refer to as
coffee,,so I agreed to give it a try on a couple of braces for my patients ,to
test the waters as it were. and further to see what kinds of work this guy
could do.Hey , If it increases compliance ,what could it hurt , although the
insurance companies wouldn't go for it , it could be construed as a decoration
that would improve cosmesis of the device and this is a good thing ,especialy
when you have to put one of these braces on an adult ,for
"roundback"or as an adjunct to a halo brace where everyone can see
the vest,and the biggest plus would be for young boys who would have to wear a
Milwaukee for the next six or so years,they could have car stuff or whatever
,tooled right into the leatherwork.So,why not try it , after all, it does look
petty cool .
So anyway I donned this brand new Milwaukee brace and was actualy surprised
that it fit and felt much better than the old brace ever did,although Dan did
have the throat mold a little high ,to begin with,that was soon adjusted for
comfort as opposed to functionality,so that I could work without being in too
much extension and later on when the rest of it was finished ,and attached to
the main body of the m/b ,it was a real trip trying to walk,but as I tell my
patients "after a couple days,ya get used to it .
Well when Mary saw them for the first time she got all excited and wound up
about going out to show them off
bracecabst@hotmail.com for e-mail or comments
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