Page 6 - 1925 November - To Dragma

86 TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

who have progressed farther move around the hospital with
crutches or small wagons and carts, or i f parts of their bodies
are affected that do not interfere with walking, you see them
around with frames about their heads to correct disfigurements
of the neck and shoulders, or with casts on their arms. For the
children of school age, instruction is kept up, and one of the
common sights is a teacher beside the bed of a youngster who is
being coached i n arithmetic or history and is keeping up with his
grade, though lying strapped to a board.

Jean Gordon, a little girl of about eight, has been in the Alpha
Omicron Pi bed since it was endowed. She is suffering f r o m a
spinal trouble, some f o r m of tubercular infection, and when a
group last visited her she was lying propped up in bed with her
head slanting downward, a position which she has been in f o r
some time. Jean is a cheerful youngster and was greatly de-
lighted at having her picture taken with Miss Wyman and mem-
bers of the Seattle Alumnae Chapter, who visited her during
the stay of our founder in Seattle. The nurse in charge esti-
mated that Jean would require f r o m eighteen months to two
years to be cured.

Tubercular spines and affections of the bones are among the
most numerous troubles in the Orthopedic, though of course
many other injuries and diseases are brought to the hospital.
One interesting case was that of Darlene, a five year old girl
who suffered a severe burn on her l e f t arm and side when only
two months old. The Orthopedic Hospital had her with them
f o r five months, treating the raw surfaces and correcting con-
tractures. She was sent home i n a greatly improved condition.

Of course, many cases are so bad when the children are
brought to the hospital, that they can only be relieved and the
children cannot be restored to entirely normal condition. I n other
words, sometimes a crooked leg f r o m a badly set bone or from
tubercular trouble cannot be made completely straight or a
limp cannot be taken away entirely. Usually, however, the child
is improved so that he is enabled to get around and return to more
normal and happy life. O f course, many cases are complete cures
and not all are of equal seriousness. Some children are restored
to health within a short time, requiring only comparatively minor
operations or special care.