February 2006
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Beyond the Walls
Orthotist Rusty Miller travels to Tbilisi
Children's Rusty Miller (left) and visiting Georgian prosthetist Leri display a customized knee brace that sports a Georgian flag. Last summer, while working as a research assistant at Children's Hospital Boston, Karen Martin stopped by the NOPCO Brace Shop to inquire about donations of supplies and materials for a medical mission to Tbilisi—the Republic of Georgia's capital city. At the shop, she met NOPCO Director Rusty Miller CPO, who not only agreed to donate the materials, but also volunteered to assist on the trip.
Last fall, Miller joined Martin and a team of American doctors and nurses, led by Tammy Martin, MD, chief of Orthopedic Surgery at VA Boston Healthcare System, on their second, week-long trip to the former Soviet republic to provide pediatric orthopedic services at M. Iashvili Children's Central Hospital.
The team held daily clinics from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seeing hundreds of patients from all over Georgia. While some sought medical attention for septic joints, dislocated hips, burn scars or ligament injuries, others only wanted a second opinion from the American doctors.
Many children had difficulty walking or sitting specifically, which was due to damaged growth plates. "A terrible situation to treat," says Dr. Martin, explaining that without access to x-ray in the operating room, the team mostly performed soft tissue procedures, including tendon releases and transfers for cerebral palsy, clubfoot correction, hindfoot fusions and trauma.
While Miller was eager to make braces to help these patients, many of the supplies and materials he donated did not arrive until the last day of the trip, forcing him to work with what was available. "We made do. We created our stuff with their equipment," says Miller, explaining that the oven—used to heat and soften the plastic to fit a brace to an individual's unique shape—was smaller than a microwave. "You couldn't really get a big piece of plastic in there."
During one clinic, Dr. Martin saw a Georgian soccer player who's ACL needed surgical repair. She agreed to operate if the patient committed to wearing a brace, which he refused until Miller offered to sweeten the deal. At the Georgian Health Minister's office, Miller took a picture of the Georgian flag, then had the flag transferred onto the carbon titanium brace. Miller confesses, "Now it's not as beautiful as the American flag, but I am sure he'll get some goose bumps when he sees it."
Despite language barriers, the medical staffs from Georgia, Armenia and the United States collaborated throughout the week and continue to communicate as they plan the next medical mission. "Everyone was great," says Miller. "It was the same atmosphere that we have here at Children's." The team anticipates making additional trips in May and October of this year, as the orthopedic practice grows.
Although Miller is eager to return to Georgia, he is currently hosting a part of Georgia right here in Boston. With permission from the Georgian government, Leri, a Georgian prosthetist is spending a year at Children's, working for NOPCO and training with Miller as an orthotist—a nonexistent profession in Georgia. And later this year, NOPCO plans to replace their equipment and donate everything—ovens, vacuums, grinders and materials—to Georgia.
As for Martin, she's just happy she decided to drop by the Brace Shop that day. "Rusty was a welcome addition to the team, putting in long, dedicated hours," she says. "We all were wondering how we had ever gone without him."
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