Wednesday, May 21, 2014

She Wanted to Play the Guitar!

Because of her limb difference, Julia can either strum or play chords on a guitar, but she can't do both at the same time, and this girl likes to rock and roll!
So we took a little trip to Shriner's Hospital and talked to a prosthetist. She was very enthusiastic about developing a device for Julia that would help her to hold a pick with her left hand!

Julia was a little scared because this was a new experience, but it didn't take long before she was smiling and asking questions again.







First the prosthetist measured Julia's arm.











Then Julia got to pick out her design. She chose blue marble.


Now it was time to start making her device. Her arm was covered in a couple socks, and then it was wrapped in "mud", which didn't look or feel like mud at all. It was a roll of sticky white stuff that hardened after it was applied.

This part didn't hurt at all!


Now the prosthetist marked different places on the form to show where Julia's bones were and where her arm bent.


Once the form was hardened, it came right off! Now all we had to do was go home and let the prosthetist work her magic.


A couple weeks later, we returned to Shriner's to pick up her device.
First, a sock was put on her arm and then a silicone-like sleeve was used to hold the device in place. It had to be adjusted just a little bit to make sure that it fit perfectly.






Now for the big moment! It was time to try it out with a guitar. The prosthetist checked to make sure that the angle was correct

Then Dad gave a few quick pointers.

And after a little bit of practice...





        We have a ROCK STAR in the making!















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