Since November, I have felt like I have been functioning
with heartache and moving in slow motion while the world around me whirls on in it's constant motion.
I finally feel strong enough to share this piece of my heart. (If you get sick to your stomach easy, don't read on...but this is what Parker endured and now lives with...it is real and painful.)
Parker has been in such a fight during these past 3 months. He had his “surgery re-do” on his left foot. We had no idea how much more extensive this surgery was going to be in comparison to his previous bi-lateral surgery that was done in March. The surgeon had to restructure and realign his foot, ankle and tibia. This meant bone turning, ligament and tendon tightening and lengthening, pinning bones once again, and inserting THREE titanium screws to fuse his foot into place. The medical terminology for his surgery: Subtalar fusion (joint between talus bone and calcaneus bone is removed and joint surfaces are fixed together to decrease pain and improved function) with calcaneal osteotomy (cutting the heel bone and shifting it to correct deformity). He endured a splinted cast (which adhered to his skin due to the blood and took 30 minutes just to remove), then a regular cast, then a boot cast with bone stimulators, and now he has a brace.
Just this last week, he has finally begun taking steps
again. He is so happy to be on his feet
again. Of course, his first few days of being able to stand, he
way over did it. He even danced
some. A tearful moment. Then he went into a JA flare. Another tearful moment.
These past three months we have seen him in more pain than
I thought possible. Week three through week
eight were the absolute worst. He is
quite glad that now physical therapy (PT) can begin. He was going to start PT this week, but
yesterday we had to take him to the doc and they had us take him to the ER, where we spent the entire day/evening. There was concern that he had pericardial effusion again. He was having pain with breathing. Such intense pain that it woke him that
night. His D-dimer blood labs were
elevated which we found out could mean a blood clot. After many labs, an EKG, x-rays, an
echo-cardiogram, and a lung CT… he was cleared to go home to sleep in his own
cozy beds. Thank goodness all the tests were
ok.
A few days prior to Parker’s surgery, a film crew came to video
his pre-op appointment and our family to honor Parker at the Arthritis
Foundation’s Night of Champions. Logan
went to the event in New Orleans to speak on behalf of his brother. The event was the day after Parker’s surgery.
Below you will see the video that the AF made to honor Parker. Parker is
forever our champion.
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