Week 3:
Flourishing in Washington

June 27, 2020

My third week has come to a close and it feels like my first day at MPO was only yesterday. Time really does fly when you are having fun. I am building a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding in prosthetics and orthotics and am becoming more competent in the office. I truly believe that Cornell has prepared me to flourish as an intern. Having only eighteen days to complete a class has made me a very quick learner. I had not realized how prominent this trait is in me until now.

I am quickly picking up on the fabrication process. I now have an idea of what comes next and how I can help. Justin told us one day that as a kid his dad always said he should anticipate what comes next and have the tool ready before he has to ask for it. This story really stuck with me and I started making a point to try to do this around the office. Learning the basics quickly opens up even more opportunities and is allowing me to truly get the most out of my fellowship. The fast-paced life I am accustomed to at Cornell has helped me from becoming overwhelmed at the office. In fact, there are some days that I feel we could be working faster despite us holding a respectable pace. I see that this work ethic Cornell has created in me will give me an advantage as I pursue this career in graduate school and beyond.

This week a very small moment with a patient left a lasting impact on me. I was observing a patient appointment where the patient had developed a wound due to her ankle-foot orthotic (AFO) rubbing against her foot. It was a simple fix, take down the edge of the foot plate a little at that location, heat it up, and flare it out to give the patient relief in that area. In the field of prosthetics and orthotics I have learned it is common to treat patients who have damaged nerves in their feet and legs (often due to diabetes). When this happens, patients have limited to no feeling in the affected parts of the body. For the past year I have been dealing with nerve injuries in both elbows. I have limited sensation on sections of my arms and constant tingling in two fingers on each hand. This is not the same as what these patients experience, but it allows me to empathize with them. Once the adjustments had been made to this patient’s AFO she was able to wear it again. As it was put on, she explained that she knows it does not make any sense because she no longer has feeling in that foot, but somehow it felt so much better when she wore her AFO. Something about this brought me immense joy. I do not know what that patient was experiencing in that moment, but I know that if there was something that helped my fingers feel better I would want to wear it as much as possible. I felt reassured as the patient left wearing her AFO, feeling better than when she came in. Once again, I knew that this field is where I am meant to be.

Patients I am going to work with in this field may not always be able to feel the orthotic they are wearing, but I now realize that is when my work may be most important. Especially when working with diabetic patients, shoe inserts and orthotics are our chance to intervene before they come in needing a prosthetic leg. If a patient is wearing something that causes a wound they cannot feel, the danger of infection is huge. When an infection cannot be controlled and enters the bone or threatens a patient’s life, the infected area may be amputated. The proper orthotic truly can save a limb.

For those of you wondering, an orthotic is a support or brace for the limbs or spine while a prosthetic is an artificial body part. Before starting at MPO I was most intrigued by prosthetics. While I still love working with the prosthetics, it is amazing to see the impact orthotics have. The more I learn about orthotics, the more I enjoy them. Both prosthetics and orthotics are helping to build better lives in their own unique ways.

As my internship flourishes, my life outside of the office follows closely. This week one of my coworkers showed me a beach in Silverdale near the office that I did not even know existed. Every direction I turn in around here has some hidden gem. We also went hiking over the weekend at Green Mountain. I have been hiking in my home state of Colorado, and hiking here in Washington brought me comfort. I still cannot get my head around how green everything here is! I guess you could say the mountain’s name is very fitting. I look forward to another week, before I know it I will be sitting down to update you on week four!