2/3 done!

Mary had an x-ray on Friday and she has lengthened 19 mm so she is still tracking the 1 mm a day! 11 more to go!

June 28: 19 mm

June 11: 1 mm

She also had a lateral x-ray of her knee to make sure there is no slipping and there is none.

The lower metal is an 8 plate from 5th grade

We will go back in a week and a half. She will get a standing x-ray and she should be done lengthening.

Rash to Dermabond skin glue

The magnetic internal leg lengthening has been going very well except 2 weeks after surgery Mary developed a rash to the skin glue. She was prescribed a topical to apply twice daily, Triamcinolone but the rash spread away from the incision sites so 3 weeks after surgery she went on a 5 day dose of Prednisone.

rash near incision

rash away from incision

The itching is disappointing.

One Week of Lengthening = 2.9 mm

Mary had an x-ray today and she is on track. In one week the space between the broken bone has lengthened 7.9 mm. The goal is 22.1 mm more. If she stays on track she will be done lengthening around July 10, then she can become weight bearing and the bone consolidates. 

June 11
(paperclip was taped to outside of leg for x-ray)

June 17

First Internal PRECICE Nail Leg Lengthening session (post-op)

Mary had her post-op appointment today. 

• We learned the CT before surgery shows a 35 mm discrepancy. So the goal is to lengthen 30 mm. (Her foot is fused and she toes down so we can't go for the full amount.)

• They removed the gauze from the incision sites and we saw the mark that indicates where the PRECICE device is in her leg (The mark stays on the whole time of lengthening (approx. 37 days) so you know where to put the machine to lengthen and where to take the weekly x-rays to monitor bone growth.)
• The happy face is her surgeons traditional mark to indicate the correct leg for surgery.

There are 3 incisions: 1. top to insert rod and 2 screws, 2. middle is where the bone was broken and the device was inserted, 3. lower one is where 2 more screws are to stabilize the rod.

PRECICE Nail Lengthening Device

PRECICE device in suitcase

Device positioned on leg for 1st lengthening session. It is loud so you know the magnets are spinning.

Yes, that's a paperclip taped to her quad for reference for x-rays

Mary will lengthen .5 mm two times a day. You shouldn't have any metal close to the device when lengthening, and it needs to be within 7 cm. to work.

Mary needs to work on hip and ankle range of motion during lengthening but she should not bend her knee more than 30 degrees. She will work on her knee range of motion once the lengthen is done. 

Internal Leg Lengthening Procedure

Mary had the PRECICE Nail (internal lengthening) procedure on Tuesday, June 4. She went back at 12:45 and they called around 3pm to say they were testing the magnet, closing her up, and moving her to recovery.

We talked to her surgeon around 4:15 and he said she has good strong bones and everything went well but he is "mad at her ankle" and he really wants her to work on stretching her Achilles. (That means we will be looking at another surgery at a later date.)

We saw Mary at 5pm and she looked very good. She had finished the post anesthesia shivering.

She was moved to her regular room around 6pm.

Mary had an "On Q" nerve block and an additional shot. The shot wore off around 7am the first morning but the nerve block lasted 3 days and was wonderful!!! She had very minor pain.

Mary met with the Occupational Therapist the 1st morning and learned how to sit, stand, and sit in a chair.

She met with the Physical Therapist around lunch time and was thrilled to walk and get bathroom privileges back.

The second day she learned how to go up and down stairs then was cleared to go home!

Mary started having a little pain when moving once the nerve block ran out on day 3 but very minor compared to the external fixator procedure without the nerve block.

We went into this very hesitant, hopeful it is as "easy" as people say but so far I have to agree it has been a "breeze" / "dream" compared to the external fixator. The "On Q" nerve block is a huge part because they surgically they still cut a bone.