"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!"
There are currently two women with foot drop in our ward. Foot drop occurs for these women when they're in prolonged childbirth; the baby's head pressed on the nerves that run from the spine, through the pelvis, and down to the muscles in the legs and feet. In mild cases, this will resolve on its own within a few months. But for others, they experience severe leg muscle weakness and the inability to lift their toes when the walk, so they limp and drag that leg. I don't have the ability to perform nerve tests for these women to see if they'll regain nerve function and therefore muscle strength, but I can at least work on correcting their walking so that they're safe and they can move around on their own in a more efficient manner.
When these women came for Tuesday clinic a few months ago, I recognized their foot drop. Along with a reminder card of their date for surgery, I gave them a card to come for physical therapy the next morning where I showed them a few exercises to do at home and another card to see me the day after surgery.
They came after their surgeries like they were supposed to, but due to a communication mix-up, one came as I was nearly about to leave for the day! After finishing treating all my patients, the woman translating for me asked the obvious question: "Since you're not seeing them for urine problems and we taught them basically the same exercises today, why can't they come together next time?" She was exactly right!
So today we did a brief session of exercises on the plynth before working on walking and balance exercises. Here they are working on an exercise to strengthen the muscles on the outside of their hips.
The plastic buckets by their feet are holding their catheter bags. It's a bit of a hassle making sure these don't get in the way or get accidentally tugged on during therapy, but we make it work!
Then we moved out to the "babban parlour" (big parlour/room) which we use as a waiting room during Tuesday clinic. I like to use that area for therapy because it's just outside my clinic and because it's a big open space that's quiet and free from distractions.
I knew at one of the ladies would really need help balancing during the sidestepping, heel-to-toe, and backwards walking, and the other lady would probably benefit too, so I just had them hold each other's hand while they walked. It was fun to see them laugh at their own mistakes and losses of balance, as well as to see the stronger lady slow down to match the pace of the other. Here, they're doing backwards walking to get work on ankle mobility, balance, and body awareness/"listening" to their feet.
At the end, I asked them, "What that hard to do?" They both laughed and nodded. Then I asked, "Was it easier to do it together and help each other?" Again, they nodded.
One of these women identifies herself as a Christian, the other as a follower of Islam. Despite the ongoing tribal and religious tension in this area of Nigeria and the recent attacks in the villages surrounding Jos, there was peace in this room today. They were simply two women facing the same challenge, and facing it together.
I hope to come back to this topic in the future and talk about how God holds our hands when we are going through difficult things--He doesn't leave us to falter. But we have to reach out and take His hand and put our trust in Him.
It's not every day that I see Jesus show up in my clinic or that the Holy Spirit brings the Word alive right before my eyes. But today was one of those days.