March 2006

News

Volunteers Offer Reconstructive Foot Surgery to Vietnam Patients

Heal the Children volunteer surgeons with a young patient. Doctors completed 21 reconstructive procedures during a weeklong trip in November.

Last November, 23 volunteers kicked off a Healing the Children mission to Vietnam. Sponsored by the Seattle chapter of the nonprofit organization, which offers medical assistance to countries around the world, work began at Tien Giang General Hospital. Twenty children were screened for potential reconstructive foot surgery, and additional children followed throughout the week.

By the end of the weeklong trip, 15 feet in 13 patients had undergone more than 21 reconstructive procedures of various complexities, including posterior releases, tendon transfers, joint fusions including one pantalar arthrodesis, a fracture reduction, and two clubfoot repairs.

BSN medical Orthopedics division, based in Charlotte, NC, played an important role in this project by donating more than 1,000 rolls of casting material. The team also provided education. Toward the end of the week, the surgeons, led by Matt Williams, DPM, gave separate lectures and demonstrations to the hospital nurses and doctors on the Ponseti casting technique for the correction of clubfoot, a method that can prevent the need for surgery. Stephen Miller, DPM, then presented the hospital’s Department of Orthopedics with $45,000 worth of large and small fragment screw sets, while William Boegel, DPM, provided surgical textbooks on foot and ankle surgery and Kai Olms, DPM, donated a number of bone anchors and specialty sutures.

Surgeons from the Seattle-area teach physicians and nurses in Vietnam about various fixation instruments.

The surgeons spent their last day at the hospital teaching Dr Nguyen Van Duong about the various internal fixation instruments and devices that they had provided to him. He invited them into his operating room where they shared ideas on trauma surgery. The team also left a large amount of cast material, dressing supplies, and surgical gowns to help provide postoperative care for the children.

“In the end, bridges were established, friendships made, and the lives of children changed forever,” said Miller.

Football Player Turned SCI Advocate Returns to the Scene of His Accident

Injuries were always part of the game to Mike Utley. He broke his leg during his first season in the National Football League. He injured his hip, shoulder, and ribs in his second. But when he found himself on the ground during the 11th game of his third season, he knew that something was very wrong. In the past, he had gone down hard and lost feeling in his arms and/or hamstrings. Lying on the turf on November 17, 1991, the Detroit Lion guard could not feel his strength.

Utley became a C5, C6, and C7 quadriplegic that day. Last month, sponsored by Invacare, Utley returned to the scene of the injury to attend the Superbowl. Now an advocate for people with spinal cord injuries, he states that his worldview is only slightly different.

“Being 6’6”, 315 pounds, [and going] down to 5’2” and 240, it’s a hell of a sight difference. It’s a hell of a weight loss program. My life hasn’t changed much, I just can’t play football anymore,” says Utley. “I love my life, I just wish that I hadn’t got hurt. There’s nothing I can do about being a paralyzed guy right now. What I can do is make sure that my life is being lived to its fullest, most productive, happiest, enjoyable, and [be as] enthusiastic as I can be.”

Utley still takes pride in his appearance and maintains a body fat count that is less than 10%. His activities include power-boating, riding his Sea-Doo, scuba diving, sky diving, kayaking, and skiing on the water and snow.

He is also busy with the Mike Utley Foundation ( www.mikeutley.org ), which is dedicated to finding a cure for paralysis.

“This spinal cord injury can only change you if you allow it to. The only injury that can change who you are as a person is a closed mind injury,” Utley says.

The 40-year-old and his organization are as busy as ever. His charity continues to find creative ways to fund-raise. Last September they hosted their second annual bike tour in Washington.

Bruno Independent Living Aids Names New CEO

Michael R. Bruno, the founder and chairman of Bruno Independent Living Aids, Oconomowoc, Wis, announced that he was relinquishing the title of chief executive officer and placing his son, Michael R. Bruno II, president of the firm, in that position. Bruno Independent Living Aids produces vehicle lifts, Turning Automotive Seating (TASTM), and stair lifts for the mobility industry.

Michael R. Bruno

The senior Bruno stated that his son, who has served as president for the past 10 years, was overseeing all facets of the business on a day-to-day basis, and the title of CEO was appropriate and deserved. As chairman of the board for the family-owned company, Bruno remains actively involved in the business, particularly in the areas of marketing and new product development.

In the past year, the company, which manufactures more than 30 different products for the mobility market, launched four important new products: the Turny™ Orbit Seat, a fully powered, rotating-and-lowering mobility seat; the Joey, an interior vehicle platform lift, which uses rack and pinion rail technology, perfected in Bruno’s stair-lift products; the Electra-Ride LT straight-rail stair lift, a moderately priced unit with features found only on high-end stair lifts; and a new 350-pound-capacity Meridian exterior vehicle lift.

New Course Announced for 2006 Disease Management Colloquium

A new course on Achieving and Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) from Disease Management Initiatives has been announced for the 2006 Disease Management Colloquium, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, on May 10-12, 2006. It will be sponsored by the Department of Health Policy of Jefferson Medical College.

It is the only executive education course on the role of disease management in Medicare, Medicaid, health care cost efficiency, quality, and medical errors reduction.

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