November update

"I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time."

Mason had his pre-op clinic visit today, and we got quite a bit of information during the visit....so much that it was overwhelming!  

First off, the surgeon made it very clear that this is not a routine operation.  In fact, I believe she used the words "major deal" and "tricky" in her description.  She has some concerns that she wanted us to be aware of, number one worry being the risk of infection.  While the last infection was contracted through the pinhole from his external fixator, and we won't have that kind of situation this time, there is a fear that staph bacteria doesn't really ever "go away", it just gets walled off (cellularly speaking) and contained. But, cutting into that area could open the floodgates again.  So, to guard against that she will be doing her best to avoid the area where the infection was located.

While there were many other issues, infection seems to be the biggie.  Mason will get antibiotics through an IV while in the hospital (he will spend at least one night), but will not get a prescription for that when he leaves.  Seems strange, but the docs say that would not prevent him from getting an infection, and might in fact make his strain become resistant.  So I will be on pins on needles between visits, worrying about infection. I'm hopeful we would recognize it was happening this time, but I know that reactions can be different every time. And of course, if he does contract an infection, they will treat it much like they did last time--the evil drug therapy.

So here is the basic scoop of what she is going to do.  She will be performing an acute lengthening/osteotomy on the ulna bone to straighten/lengthen it so it will allow the radial head to slide back into it's correct position.  That means she will cut, then pull the ulna bone apart, straighten the bone,add some bone graft - likely from Mason's hip - and put it where its supposed to be and plate/screw it in place. Then she will put the radial head back into the elbow socket - and make it stay.  To do this she may need to use donor ligament to tie the joint back together. There are *a lot* of unknowns going into this procedure, and we are going to have to be extremely flexible, as we won't know exactly what all will need to be done until the procedure is underway.  There will be two surgeons, our regular orthopedic surgeon AND an upper extremity specialist, who deals a lot with nerves and such, another area of concern in this procedure.  

That is the procedure in a nutshell, but there is so much other stuff to think about.  

Our number one goal is to make Mason pain-free.  Our number two goal is to increase his range of motion.  I want both goals realized.

This picture is of the offending elbow.  You can click on it to make it larger, and you can see how the radial head is sticking way out of the socket. (on the right side of your picture).  This causes total bone on bone action in his elbow, which has caused the joint to erode.  We are hoping that once the elbow joint is functioning more normally, that it will heal itself.  If that does not happen...well then, that is a whole new story.  

On the left is Mason's left forearm, where if you click on the pic to enlarge it you can see how the ulna has bowed, and is pushing the radius out of alignment.  On the right is his right forearm, which is straight, with a normal elbow joint.


So, I have my work cut out for me, worrying for the next few months!!


Right now his surgery will probably the first one of the day - it is scheduled for Tuesday, November 22.   I will find out the exact time the day before.


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