Meet Ali- a kid of about 16:
He came to us several weeks ago with a femur fracture. He was in traction for a bit, then Dr. Scott did a perfect sign-nail repair.
Ali speaks only arabic, and only understands a few words of French. The first time I met him, it was to start him on physical therapy after the surgery. His cousin was translating for me, and when I said we were going to do some exercises, his answer was a cathegoric "no way!"
He clearly didn't know me very well...
Of course, I didn't take no for an answer, and over the course of another couple of weeks, we exercised every day, and improved the range of motion of his knee, which at first was only about 30 degrees.
He did NOT get infected, his wound healed nicely, and he was discharged.
Today he came for his weekly check-up, still using crutches.
That's his current range of motion. He's pretty good at exercising on his own, and I have no doubt he will continue doing it and regain the few degrees still missing...
So today, I had the pleasure of pronouncing him completely healthy and telling him he had no need to come back to the hospital, or to use his crutches again.
I admit, it was weird actually saying to him "get up and walk!"
But he did. A little wobbly at first, but gaining confidence with each stride.
SUCCESS EXISTS!!! And it tastes good!
:)
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