Scoliosis the 1950s. The Milwaukee brace was the only nonoperative and noninvasive alternative to surgery at the time to provide postoperative correction to polio patients. A curve exceeding sixty degrees required the Harrington rod technique, otherwise the Milwaukee brace was recommended. However, Canadian physician, Elizabeth Wyne, observed that fifty percent of patients wearing the Milwaukee brace still required surgery later in life. Surgery may straighten the spine however it does not necessarily eradicate a patient of all the pain they suffer from due to scoliosis. Individuals who undergo surgery are left with scars and often have a lack of feeling in
The Gifts of the Body the patients and the caregiver. The book contains ten short stories, the titles of each being associated with "gifts" which are various functions of the body, both physical and emotional: sweat, wholeness, tears, skin, hunger, mobility, death, speech, sight, hope, and mourning. The caregiver experiences each "gift", as he/she deals with patients who have AIDS, showing the different shared relationships in each case. Each patient is a distinct case, differing in terms of age, financial situation, attitude toward the illness etc., showing the reader that this disease affects all types of people. The book is written in the "no-frills style"