fibular hemimelia leg lengthening: 4th medical procedure: removed last 2 blue wires

When we started this journey we were expecting 3 medical procedures:

to get the fixator on,
to get the thigh ring and foot plates removed, and
to remove the remaining fixator.

Today we had our 2nd additional medical procedure to the 3 described above. We had one on June 19 to repair loose hardware and do some intense PT, and today was to remove the remaining 2 blue wires since they seemed to be irritating her bone.

Today's procedure lasted closer to an hour which was 15 minutes longer than the last 2 procedures but Mary didn't take any medicine in the recovery room and she seemed to recover much easier. I was surprised because Dr. Scott was asking how she was feeling because he was working on her a lot so I thought she would be pretty sore.

Dr. Scott advised:

Mary's tibia had "sagged" (the area of her bone that was cut on May 10 sunk in back towards her calf) so he adjusted the struts to correct the sag and decreased the struts by 3 mm.
Mary's knee is still a challenge, (sublixation so it can't glide correctly) so we are ordering a Dyna Splint we attach to the fixator when she sleeps to apply slow steady pressure to help straighten her leg.
He did say sometimes they have to add a thigh ring to adjust the knee so it is lined up correctly but we are trying the splint first. (Ironically, 2 other girls we know that are going thru this same procedure are having trouble bending their knees.)
Walking will also naturally help correct the problem.
We have been trying to fight for Mary to not have to get another AFO (brace for her foot) but Dr. Scott wants us to get it. Again, if she was walking on her left foot it would be the best therapy...
He put the strut he removed on August 20 back in because of the sag in the tibia.
The removal of the blue wires allows some torque with the fixator but the new bone growth compensates for the torque. Some torque is good because it stimulates bone growth.
We asked if there is anything we should change to reduce the chances of a third infection and he said no, the wires and pins look good. The wires (which are where Mary had the 2 infections) are more prone to infections because they cause inflammation and move more than the big pins.

As I said Mary recovered really quickly today and never had any pain. She is off to school tomorrow. Mary isn't happy about the splint and the AFO but Mommy and Daddy know she is making great progress and just needs to get walking!

The good thing about all of the procedures is we have the drill down so we know what to expect overall and it's nice to often be working with the same people. (One thing I will never get used to or like is the smell of anesthesia wafting off Mary throughout the day.)

There was a 12 year old boy that was getting a fixator on today. I talked to them but had trouble thinking of what I should say. I didn't want to say anything to make them more nervous than they probably already were but I could tell the young man was going to do great.

We were also very touched by a teenage boy who was still trying to get his pain controlled from his surgery that made a point to say good bye to Mary when we were leaving.

Those experiences are what makes Children's a nice place to seek care.