Surgery…Again!

Parker asked me to update everyone on the craziness with his feet.  If you follow us on Facebook, you already know that he has bilateral foot surgery scheduled for Monday at our local pediatric hospital.  If this feels like déjà vu…well, it feels like that for us too.  This is the 4^th time Parker is going under for his feet/ankles and for a total of 6 surgical procedures.  His disease is making things way more difficult because his body is seeing the cadaver bones as foreign objects and rejecting them.  Then they disintegrate and get reabsorbed back into his body leaving an open space where bone should be.  We have just decided that his body doesn’t like “dead people”. 

So here is what is happening:  the cadaver bone in his left foot is completely gone and the open space must have created such a torque in his step that it snapped one of the 3 screws in that foot right in half.  Yes, he is stronger than titanium. 

Broken titanium screw

So, the surgeon is going to try and remove the broken screw, but he may have to leave the back half in, if the bone around it is too brittle.  In addition, the right foot’s cadaver bone is hanging on by one corner and is very lacey. The doctor is going to replace both of the cadaver bones with bone harvested from the crest of his own hipbone. 

He is expected to be in the hospital for a week and while he is in-patient, he will also get injections of cortisone in his SI joints.  These joints have gotten progressively worse. So, this should help not only his joints and lower back but also some of the pain that will come with being bed-bound for a while.  He will be non-weight bearing on both feet; and we know that recovery will be at least 3 months before he can walk again.  One plus, is he has gone through this before; so he knows pretty much what to expect…one negative is, he has gone through this before and knows what to expect… 

Please keep our kiddo in your thoughts and prayers.  Much love to each of you.