Pin Change : (

Tuesday, Caleb had to have a procedure to remove his top pin and replace it with another one in a different spot. My poor baby was just sick about the whole thing. He hates being put to sleep. Here is a pic of the top pin prior to removal, and in my opinion it looked great in comparison to previous weeks......................unfortunately,  the x-ray told a different story : (

 

This is Caleb in the waiting room before the procedure. My gorgeous little guy : )

 

 

 

You can't tell from the picture above, but this procedure was really tough for Caleb. He was hysterical before they wheeled him back for surgery. Josh, again, went back with him while they put him to sleep. I still can't bring myself to go back with him, as selfish as this sounds. I just can't bare to see Caleb being put under. I don't want those images in my mind. The surgery went fairly quickly, about an hour, and I was in the recovery room before Caleb woke up. He had a hard time waking up from the anesthesia. He started screaming in pain and it was very hard to calm him down. The nurse gave him three doses of different pain meds to try and manage his pain and within 15 minutes he started to calm down. We were able to go home within a couple of hours after Caleb's pain was managed and he was able to keep fluids down.

 

 

 

This is 5 days after the top pin removal.

 

 

 

This is a current picture of his fixator

 

 

 

This is the new pin site (the pin closest to the left of the pic)

 

 

 

This was a stressful week to say the least! I honestly don't think I have ever been so exhausted in all my life. Despite the unexpected set-back, I'm happy to say that Caleb is doing great and is almost back to normal. Looking forward to an uneventful week next week. At least that's what I'm praying for!

 

5 cm!

It was a happy day October 12th to finish our first turning schedule. Truly, this has felt like the longest three months of my life. Our appointment with Dr. Paley was scheduled Monday, October 15th, to reassess further treatment for Caleb. Every milestone is exciting as it gets us closer to the end, so even though we knew we would probably be getting another turning schedule, we at least reached our goal of 5 cm. As with all of our other appointments with Dr. Paley, it was another extremely long day. We are completely used to this by now and the kids and I make the best of it. Our PT appt. was scheduled for 12pm and our appt. with Dr. Paley was scheduled for 3:45pm but we signed in at about 1pm and hung out in the waiting room. I believe we saw Dr. Paley at about 6ish. Through x-rays, Dr. Paley confirmed that we did indeed lengthen 5cm. I can't tell you how exciting it was to see his before and after on the x-rays. It really choked me up. In such a short period of time we have accomplished a lot. For the first time ever Caleb's legs almost look even! It is surreal. We did, however, get some unexpected news regarding Caleb's top pin. In previous posts I have mentioned that we have been having a lot of problems with it. It is constantly infected, granulated tissue pops out of the site and it is really loose in the bone. Dr. Paley decided that he needed to change out the pin and put in a new one ASAP. He scheduled it for the next day and I had to explain to Caleb that he was going to have to be put under for this procedure. This was very hard news for him to hear. He is terrified of "going to sleep". We were also given a new schedule to fix an over-correction of Caleb's foot and to lengthen an additional 1cm. This new schedule will be done November 4th. Below are some x-ray pics:

Day Before Surgery: Showing Discrepancy

 



 

5 Centimeters: Both Legs Almost Even

Bone Growth: Fuzzy Area Above First Fixator Ring

 



 

My Little Cuties Waiting To See Dr. Paley

 

We briefly discussed that Caleb will still have a discrepancy at the end of his lengthening. We have always known that he will need additional procedures. Caleb's projected discrepancy at full grown is 10.2 cm. We will shortly have 6cm out of the way : ) Dr. Paley measured Caleb's femurs and mentioned that there is a 1 1/2 cm difference between the two. This was the first time that we had ever discussed his femur. Dr. Paley said that with such a small discrepancy, Caleb will not have to lengthen his femur as we will compensate for the difference through the lengthening of the tibia. This is good news. We did a growth predictor and Caleb's projected height at full grown is 5'11''. Same height as his Daddy. We will discuss our options when Caleb is older. For now, it is so amazingly awesome to have this first part almost over. Who knows, maybe even by Christmas I'll have a little boy out of a fixator. Wouldn't that be the best Christmas present of all?  ****Daydreaming

 

Here are some waiting room pics..........you have to keep busy somehow : ) I love my silly kids