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For Toll Free Information and Appointment Scheduling: 1-866-633-3961 |
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Please click the links below: You can click
here for new content on the “What
our Patients are Saying” page. An article
featuring Brad Hurtig, a patient of SRT, appeared in the Crescent News
on January 17, 2010: Kokomo, IN Amputee Walking School (Date: April 26, 2010, Location: Kokomo
Event Center, 1500 N. Reed Rd./U.S. 31, Kokomo, IN 46901. In the Pioneer
Room. Time: 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.) Fort Wayne, IN Amputee Walking School (Date: April 27, 2010, Location:
Turnstone Center, 3320 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46805. Time: 6:30
p.m.-8:30 p.m.) You will
need Acrobat Reader on your computer to view these PDFs. Click Here to
download a free copy of Acrobat Reader. This
article appeared in the July 10, 2009 issue of the Greater
Fort Wayne Business Weekly: “You have to start with patient care and end with patient care. Everything else will fall into place if you’re managing wisely” (Created: )
Name: Sam Santa-Rita This
article about a SRT patient appeared in the May 6, 2009 issue of The
Paper of Wabash County: Phillips remains optimistic during recovery
process by
Shaun Tilghman Hannah Phillips, 18, Wabash, has been through a lot in the
past month as she attempts to put a horrific workplace accident behind her. On April 8, Phillips was cleaning a meat grinder while
working at Kroger, Wabash, when her right arm became caught in the machine
and was severed just below the elbow. She was flown to Parkview Hospital,
where she underwent multiple surgeries, and had to stay there for almost two
days. When Phillips was released from the hospital she knew she
still had a long way to go, not only in recovering physically but also in
adjusting both mentally and emotionally. “They told me I’d have to do exercises with my
arm to strengthen my muscles and once I got my stitches out I had to clean it
and change my bandages – that kind of hurt,” she explained. “I just have to keep in mind that I still have one
(hand), I can still do things. In some ways I’m better off than a lot
of people who get hurt in accidents; yes I may look different, but things
could be worse.” Phillips participates in therapy two or three times per
week at Occupational Therapy, Fort Wayne. She spends at least an hour on the
rehabilitation process during each session, which involves Fluidotherapy
– a treatment meant to decrease pain, increase mobility, and
desensitize the skin of the affected appendage. “I have to do therapy to teach my brain that this is
now the end of my arm,” Phillips said, “because right now I can
still feel my hand.” She also said that she takes the bandages off and rubs a
terry cloth over the end of her arm to desensitize the nerves. Along with her therapy, Phillips has been busy learning
about the options she has in terms of a prosthetic. “Technology is absolutely amazing, the stuff
I’ve seen and the arm I’m getting, it’s all amazing,”
she explained. “I could get a hook but the guy I’m working with
said I wouldn’t like a hook, that it’s not something an
18-year-old girl would want.” She could have also chosen not to use any type of
prosthetic at all but she felt that it would be in her best interest to have
one, because there is a greater risk of developing carpal tunnel or arthritis
in her remaining hand if she only uses it to do everything. The prosthetic she has selected is called a Myoelectric
Arm, which is equipped with a hand that moves and allows for the thumb and
first two fingers to move as well. She had to choose between a manual wrist,
which could be turned using her good hand or another object, and a wrist that
is controlled by muscle contractions – she will have the latter, which
means she will have to learn which muscles control which movements all over
again. “I’ve talked to one woman who had been through
something similar and she is doing really well and does a lot on her
own,” Phillips said. “I just tied my own shoes again for the first time a
couple days ago and I sent texts to everyone to tell them – it’s
not a big deal to someone with two hands but it is when you have to learn to
do it all over again with just one hand – I was really proud.” Phillips recently attended her prom at Northfield High
School and did so with a prosthetic arm in place. It wasn’t the one she
will be getting on a permanent basis, it didn’t move and was just for
looks, but it made her a little more comfortable while attending the event. “The people at SRT Prosthetics and Orthotics (Fort
Wayne) didn’t charge me anything or make anyone pay for it, they just
wanted me to go to prom,” Phillips added. This wasn’t the only display of support Phillips has
received since her accident though; she has gotten cards, gift cards, and
money too. “Everybody wants to help,” she said,
“people have come over and brought dinner while I was living at my
boyfriend’s mom’s (Angie Kline) house because she had taken
personal days to stay home all week and help me. They want to help her since
she is helping me, while she was still taking care of her kids too. “I was in foster care for a while and it’s not
always easy to see that people actually care, but since this has happened
everyone has been offering to help, and letting them help is good because it
makes them feel better too.” Kline had been driving Phillips to her therapy sessions
because she was advised not to drive that far with the medications she has to
take, but she will start driving herself to Fort Wayne this week. Phillips has been working on a compensation agreement from
Kroger and says she might even go back to work there someday but that she has
other plans for her future as well. “I want to go to college,” she said,
“but I have to get used to my new prosthetic once I get it – I
have to see what all I am able to do. “I also want to be able to do a job normally but
that’s not going to be an option with some jobs. I wanted to be a nurse
or a veterinary technician so I could help people or help animals, but now I
have to learn to use my other hand more before I can even think about those
jobs as part of my future.” Phillips returned to school on Monday to attend classes
during the second half of the day, she doesn’t have classes in the
morning because she was involved in the ICE program prior to her accident.
Her life is beginning to regain some sense of normality but she wants to
express her gratitude to all those who have helped her in getting to this
point: “I just want everybody to know I’m grateful
for everything they’ve done,” she explained. “The Kroger
stores from all over have been great and I’ve gotten over 100 cards;
it’s hard to get a thank-you to everyone so hopefully this lets people
know I appreciate their support.”
Please
click on the video below to see two of SRT’s patients on News Channel
15. If
your browser does not support this video, please click here. |
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