Emergency Spinal support solution needed

samassaf29 · February 2019

My 26,year old nephew's cp is profound and needs Spinal and leg braces, is feed by tube and is non verbal. Despite all this his intellect is keen and he is generally happy. But he has been really ill in hospital for two months, it started with a chest infection but there were other complications that developed in hospital.
He is out of intensive care, but not out of the woods. The mother(also prime carer) and the hospital agree that the key to recovery is to have him vertical, but he has lost so much weight that his spinal braces won't fit/may damage him. He is not able to tolerate a new fitting... The hospital staff are not experienced in cases like my nephew... ie cp and brain injury . Is there anybody who knows of some temporary solution to provide Spinal support to a fragile young man

Samassaf29

Richard_Scope · February 2019

Hi @samassaf29

I am really sorry to read that your nephew has been very unwell. A spinal brace is purpose-built for the person wearing it and it would very difficult to find a temporary solution. Has his mother spoken with the orthopaedic consultant or the physio team in the hospital about possible solutions? What hospital is treating your nephew?

samassaf29 · February 2019

Thanks for responding. My nephew is at St Mary's Hospital London. Yes, the hospital staff are concerned that by lying down he is prone to aspiration and infection and this has happened repeatedly at hospital.. But they don't the required orthopedic expertise in house and have ruled out the possibility of moving my nephew to get a fitting at Stanstead Orthopedic hospital due to his weakened condition. While writing I remembered that my nephew once went to private clinic London Orthotic Consultancy, so I will write to them and their views.

Richard_Scope · February 2019

@samassaf29 have the staff not offered any potential solutions at all? Please keep me updated.

Emergency Spinal support solution needed

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