Bowed Tibia: turning struts again

On Sunday we emailed Dr. Scott to give him the heads up that we were having hardware issues for the 3rd time but we had "fixed" it with wire and tape. He asked if she was uncomfortable and if she could bend her knee. We explained she isn't comfortable when it is loose but as long as the nut is tight she is comfortable and can bend her knee. He wanted to see her just in case so we saw him this morning even though we get the piece off on Thursday.

He is just as baffled as we are with the repetitive loose hardware and we all can't wait until Thursday when the piece comes off.

The loose hardware "fix" passed the test. He had seen tape before but never the wire.



See the fancy green wire?


While we were there he noticed her tibia is very pronounced now. It just happened the past couple of weeks so we took an x-ray.

See the bow in the tibia?

We are done lengthening but we did get a new 7 day RX for turning the struts so that the bone itself moves position. Mary was a little nervous about this since some of the struts will be turned backwards but he verified the length of the bone will not change, just the angle. He also offered that these turns should not be painful.

It was also a good opportunity to ask some questions about Thursday's procedure. Mary feels so MUCH better after she received a letter from her pen pal Miranda in Canada that explained how she will feel after Thursday's procedure but she is still a little nervous.

Dr. Scott verified:

• the wire and pin sites will be bandaged when she wakes up
• he did mention the pin sites in her thigh will probably bleed a lot the first day but he likes that because it flushes the area
• the pin sites will look like a hole (because he doesn't stitch them closed) but will scab over
• she can bear weight on the leg right away. If she isn't up for walking on it he at least wants her to stand on it.
• the procedure will be in the normal Operating Room at the hospital where she had the fixator put on

I showed him a bone I have noticed that protrudes on the left side on her lower back and he explained it could be how she holds the left hip and/or because of the unevenness but it will correct itself once she starts straightening out her left leg.

He also confirmed the estimate to be in the fixator is one month for every cm. gained so she should be in a fixator for a little over 6 months total since she most likely gained 6.6 cm.

I asked after doing all of this how do we try to prevent the bone from breaking (which I hear is common). He explained it is more common with femur lengthenings and she will be completely non-weight bearing for two weeks when she gets the whole fixator off.

At the end Mary told him I wanted to have a party on Thursday night to celebrate getting the thigh ring and foot piece off. He said maybe not Thursday night but Friday would be OK. (We aren't really having a party but it was good insight to how she will be feeling on Thursday.)

Close up of the new bone growth that is already consolidating very well!!!

The nurse finally asked Daddy what he does for a living since he seems so knowledgable. That is our Doctor Daddy :-)