Wow, what an interesting experience at Hadassah Har Hatzofim yesterday. As I reported earlier, we are trying to get Akiva accepted into the clinical trial of a new kind of back brace for his scoliosis.
Yesterday we went through the beginnning stages of the process. I'm told Akiva will need a CT scan of two portions of the spine so as to measure the exact angle of the rotation of the apex. This is milder than the usual CT scan for this kind of thing, because it only focuses on two small spots, so he gets exposed to less radiation. He'll also need a similar scan at the end of the program for documentation purposes.
One of the many things we were told by the doctor in charge of the program was that if Akiva's angle gets even 5% worse, we get booted from the program and he has to start wearing a conventional brace. Even though it's not uncommon for rotation to increase by 5% on even a conventional brace, they're not taking any chances.
Fitting the brace
The guy in charge of fitting the mold came into the office with a large bag, and pulled out a long, cylindical can with two sections. He also pulled out what looked like kind of an undershirt or a sheath with a zipper on each side. He fitted this sheath to Akiva, not trying for a precise fit but more to see if the sheath was about the right size for his body type. It is made of some kind of soft material, feels like cloth, and is grey. It also stretches, and he pulled on it in all directions so it made a snug fit on Akiva's upper body. He removed the sheath from Akiva, and separated it into front and back sections by unzipping both zippers. The doctor then opened the top of one section, revealing that each section was really two layers, and in fact was a sort-of bag. The doctor held the top of the "bag" (at the neck) open and ready.
Next, the molder went to the table and seperated the cylindrical can into its two sections. He opened both. Inside were two semi-liquid chemicals, one resembling honey, and the other resembling marshmellow fluff. He poured the "honey" into the "fluff" and used a drill with a "milkshake" attachment to mix them thoroughly. He poured the mixture into the bag held by the doctor, and working quickly, lay the bag down on the table, leaving the neck open but protecting the table by putting the neck into a plastic bag in case any of the mixture came out.
Next, working very carefully and precisely, he used a device resembling a paint roller except made of metal to smooth down the sheath / bag so that each part of it had a thin layer of the mixture inside it and there were no wrinkles. Together, the doctor and the molder then fit the sheath back onto Akiva, carefully molding it to his body, and they attached the still-empty other half of the sheath back to the first part using the zippers. Akiva noticed that the bag with the mixture felt warm. Apparantly the two chemicals had an exothermic reaction when mixed, and from the way the doctor was talking, he knew that it would harden quickly. It did, and within minutes the sheath was hard, and perfectly fitted to Akiva's body. The process was then repeated with the other half of the sheath.
The doctor showed us two metallic "clamps" that he intended to mount on the brace, one at the top part of the spine where the twist began, and the other at the bottom part of the spine where it ended. Between the two clamps he will put a strip of metal which is very stiff, and the intention is that the pressure will gradually help mold Akiva's spine back into a more correct position as he grows. He has to wear the brace at least 18 hours and at most 23 hours per day. The more he wears it, the more effective it will be.
I took a few photos of the clamp with them showing where it will eventually will be placed. I'll try to get that into my next post, if possible.
The doctor also told us that he will actually be cutting the sheath so that really there's only an upper section and a lower section, and that mostly it should be an easy and almost invisible brace once Akiva is wearing his shirt.
Yesterday we went through the beginnning stages of the process. I'm told Akiva will need a CT scan of two portions of the spine so as to measure the exact angle of the rotation of the apex. This is milder than the usual CT scan for this kind of thing, because it only focuses on two small spots, so he gets exposed to less radiation. He'll also need a similar scan at the end of the program for documentation purposes.
One of the many things we were told by the doctor in charge of the program was that if Akiva's angle gets even 5% worse, we get booted from the program and he has to start wearing a conventional brace. Even though it's not uncommon for rotation to increase by 5% on even a conventional brace, they're not taking any chances.
Fitting the brace
The guy in charge of fitting the mold came into the office with a large bag, and pulled out a long, cylindical can with two sections. He also pulled out what looked like kind of an undershirt or a sheath with a zipper on each side. He fitted this sheath to Akiva, not trying for a precise fit but more to see if the sheath was about the right size for his body type. It is made of some kind of soft material, feels like cloth, and is grey. It also stretches, and he pulled on it in all directions so it made a snug fit on Akiva's upper body. He removed the sheath from Akiva, and separated it into front and back sections by unzipping both zippers. The doctor then opened the top of one section, revealing that each section was really two layers, and in fact was a sort-of bag. The doctor held the top of the "bag" (at the neck) open and ready.
Next, the molder went to the table and seperated the cylindrical can into its two sections. He opened both. Inside were two semi-liquid chemicals, one resembling honey, and the other resembling marshmellow fluff. He poured the "honey" into the "fluff" and used a drill with a "milkshake" attachment to mix them thoroughly. He poured the mixture into the bag held by the doctor, and working quickly, lay the bag down on the table, leaving the neck open but protecting the table by putting the neck into a plastic bag in case any of the mixture came out.
Next, working very carefully and precisely, he used a device resembling a paint roller except made of metal to smooth down the sheath / bag so that each part of it had a thin layer of the mixture inside it and there were no wrinkles. Together, the doctor and the molder then fit the sheath back onto Akiva, carefully molding it to his body, and they attached the still-empty other half of the sheath back to the first part using the zippers. Akiva noticed that the bag with the mixture felt warm. Apparantly the two chemicals had an exothermic reaction when mixed, and from the way the doctor was talking, he knew that it would harden quickly. It did, and within minutes the sheath was hard, and perfectly fitted to Akiva's body. The process was then repeated with the other half of the sheath.
The doctor showed us two metallic "clamps" that he intended to mount on the brace, one at the top part of the spine where the twist began, and the other at the bottom part of the spine where it ended. Between the two clamps he will put a strip of metal which is very stiff, and the intention is that the pressure will gradually help mold Akiva's spine back into a more correct position as he grows. He has to wear the brace at least 18 hours and at most 23 hours per day. The more he wears it, the more effective it will be.
I took a few photos of the clamp with them showing where it will eventually will be placed. I'll try to get that into my next post, if possible.
The doctor also told us that he will actually be cutting the sheath so that really there's only an upper section and a lower section, and that mostly it should be an easy and almost invisible brace once Akiva is wearing his shirt.
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