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Le Sueur VIA St.Thomas | Emily, who is 6 and has spina-bifida had surgery last week (Thurs). They actually did 4 different procedures while they had the hood open, but the biggest was the osteotomy to realign her right foot, which has gradually rotated about 30 deg outward over the years. Read with caution if you are easily gored out by medical descriptions...
To rotate the foot back to normal, they had to break both the tibia (big bone) and the fibula (smaller bone). They break the tibia just above the ankle by drilling a bunch of 2mm holes through the leg bone to weaken it and finish the job with a chisel. They had inserted metal alignment dowels prior to breaking so they know where the 'proper' alignment should be. It got reattached with a stainless steel plate and 6 screws. The nature of the roughness in the break actually allows for better/faster healing. The fibula apparently is less finicky; the surgeon said it was pretty much impossible to prevent that bone from healing.
Since she has no sensation from the waist down, pain has not been an issue. She will be in a cast for a couple months and will have to get the steel removed in a year or so. She has been an amazing trooper throughout! Mom took her to school today to pick up some homework and hang out with the kids for a bit. She did get the purple cast as requested and even got straberry flavored anestesia. She is not sure if whe is going to let anyone sign her cast; she concerned the cast is 'too bumpy' to allow anyone to properly write their name.
good luck -jim
Edited by guessrow 11/24/2010 23:32
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Surgery machinery ;^)
