3 days post-op

It was nice to be home for Thanksgiving :)

Mason hasn't felt great, but he is hanging in there!  This surgery is probably his most painful, because not only was his bone cut, but since it was an acute lengthening of the bone, the muscles and nerves, even his skin to some degree, all had to be acutely stretched as well.  So they are a little angry about that.  Also, his hip continues to be annoying to him - I suppose having a chunk taken from your hip bone would feel similar to a broken hip.  Anyway, he has effective pain relief medications, but they make him pretty snoozy.  I am hopeful that today he will be able to cut back on the narcotics a little so he can get up and around a bit.

Another issue that's probably contributing to his general malaise is that the Infectious Disease department decided that he *should* be on antibiotics for a few weeks after the surgery.  So, he came home with a prescription for clindamycin, which is the main antibiotic he took last year for the staph infection.  Blehk. But hopefully that will only be for a few weeks.  He did not test positive for staph, but they decided the risk was too great to not treat for one, especially since he has a sizable plate holding the bone together. We need that plate to stay!!!

Mason goes in next Wednesday for a follow up appointment with the ortho doc. I'll probably get some x-rays at that visit that I can post.  The plan is for him to wear a brace, not a cast (yay) which will be nice for showering, etc.  The doc said there will be NO drumming at all, until further notice by her.  However, she will release him to some piano playing fairly soon.  So that is some small bit of good news.  He has an appointment with the infectious disease department on Monday, December 5 to test his bacterial load.  This is the single most worrisome issue (says the doctors) because if the staph returns it can derail everything!

So, I will post after Mason's follow-up visit Wednesday.  I'm not sure when he'll go back to school. As of today, I can't imagine him going back Monday - he is still shuffling rather than walking - but I know with kids things can change quickly, so we will just plan to be flexible.  Thanks for checking on him.