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Yep. The time is now here. Mooselet's surgery is 7:30 Thursday morning at Ventura County Medical Center. He is expected to spend one night in the hospital. At this point, we plan on him being back at school on Monday, but we will have to play it by ear. The school is ready for whatever extra needs he may have during his time in the wheelchair.
My Mom is here from Arizona to help out. She will be taking Superstation back with her on Sunday for a week of Grandma-and-Superstation-time. If you ask Superstation, she is taking him back to Grammazona. A friend from church (thank you Janet!) had a temporary wheelchair ramp built for us. Ladies from church will be providing some meals to help us out. Many people have made plans to visit Mooselet, and others have told us to call if he needs a visit to cheer him up.
Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. We will keep you up to date on his progress after surgery.
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Copied from the "Hatrack's Own Right Off Thread."
quote: Mooselet Update (copied from an e-mail from 7/24, and cross posted on Sakeriver):
Well, we have some decisions to make now.
Due to changes in medical groups (and therefore doctors) we were 4 months late in getting Carl in for a check up on his feet. We saw the new orthopedist today. Dr. Maguire is a nice doctor about whom we had previously heard very good things (at the time he was not available through our medical group).
Our previous orthopedist (Dr. Stroberg) had mentioned a couple of years ago a surgery that might eventually be necessary. Well, Dr. Maguire mentioned that surgery today. Basically Carl's feet turn 15 degrees in from the hip line instead of 15 degrees out as they should (when laying on his tummy with his feet up). He said the surgery can be done now, or when Carl is 8, or 10 (basically anytime). Carl's hip rotation is fine. His gait is a little stiff, and he sometimes falls if he gets running too fast and trips himself. His ankles are also a little weak, but he has no pain. Dr. Maguire said it might be fine for Carl not to have the surgery, but he thinks it would be a good idea. Basically the hips can change until age 9 (rotation), but the tibia is set by about age 5.
The surgery is called a "tibial osteotomy." I tried to find something online, but everything I could find was about tibial osteotomies that have to do with arthritis (one of the knee and one of the ankle). Basically the tibia is cut through and then the foot is rotated and the bone is put back together and pins are inserted. After Carl spends 4 weeks in casts (and a wheelchair) the pins are removed.
There are pros and cons regarding when to do the surgery (during school vs. summer). During the school year he has something to keep his mind off of being in a wheelchair, although he would miss out on recess. If done during the summer he would have to watch his brothers enjoying time playing outside throughout the day. The casts could also get very uncomfortable with the heat.
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Mama Squirrel left a message on dkw's phone about 2:00 saying that the surgery went fine and Mooselet is awake and doing well. She told dkw it was okay to post the news here, but she's about 2-3 hours away from home at the moment, so I'm doing it instead.
quote:Well, we are finally home. We got home about 2:15 on Friday afternoon. We are still waiting for the delivery of Carl's wheelchair (well, we were when I started writing this), but he is resting comfortably at home.
We got to the hospital about 5:30 Thursday morning and checked in. We waited for a while in the surgery waiting room for them to call us back. We played tic-tac-toe. When they did call us back to pre-pre-op only one of us could go with Carl. Eventually they let Michael join us. They asked all the usual questions and took necessary readings. Eventually we were taken from pre-pre-op to pre-op where we met the anesthesiologist. He was given medicine to make him relax (and get loooopppy). When the surgeon showed up Carl said the doctor had four eyes. Around 7:40 they took Carl away and Michael and I went back to the surgery waiting room.
Carl charmed everyone along the way. In the pre-op room we were making Carl laugh and generally trying to keep his mind off of his fear. During a conversation Michael asked Carl who his parents were. Carl said "God…..and Gram and Grandpa." A patient in the bed next to Carl whispered to her companion "Did you hear that?"
At about 9:10 the surgeon came out to let us know that everything went well and they would be coming to get us soon. When they came, only one of us was allowed in to post-op with Carl. I could hear Carl wailing and crying before they even opened the heavy door to post-op. I can't even describe what it was like. I couldn't understand everything he said, but I did understand that he wanted to go home. The nurse had given him some meds, but they hadn't kicked in yet. Every now and then he would quiet for 30 seconds or so and look to be asleep, then he would start crying again. The medicine finally kicked in and he slept until he was moved to his room at around 10 AM.
The nurse started him on ice chips. After three bowls of ice chips, the nurse brought some jello into the room. She gave it to Carl. He started eating it and she left. After she left, Carl looked up at Michael and said "I didn't really want jello, but I want to make them (the nurses) happy." It was so cute. Some friends from church came by a little after Noon. They brought lunch for Michael and me. They also brought some chicken tenders for Carl. He pounded down the 4 large chicken tenders in just a few minutes.
We had several visitors throughout the afternoon and evening. Around dinner time Carl started having some pain (he had been pain-free for most of the day). He barely ate any dinner, but he perked up again once the pain meds kicked in. Carl spent most of his time coloring, even ignoring the people who came to visit. Michael and I did most of the talking with the visitors. Even the nurses commented on how much we must be loved because of all of the visitors Carl had.
I think I got more sleep the night before the surgery (which wasn't much) than I did last night at the hospital. Many interruptions, and Carl being in some pain and crying because he wanted to go home, kept me awake most of the night. He didn't eat much this morning and he again spent most of his time coloring. Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent waiting for the wheelchair that never came. We finally found out what time it would be delivered to the hospital and decided we would leave and ask them to deliver it to the house instead.
Carl did get to test out a wheelchair at the hospital and he spent some time going up and down the halls practicing. We are very happy to be home and glad at least the surgery part of this is over. Carl is having some frustrations with the wheelchair. He gets upset easily if the chair won't go where he wants. I am sure he will have the hang of it in a few days.
Well, that is about it. Thank you for all the support and prayers.
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I'm so glad the surgery went well! I hope Carl will heal quickly!! He is such a sweet little boy (all of your little guys are) - I want the very best for him. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I'm glad the surgery went well. Best wishes to the entire family. This must be really hard on mom and dad particularly.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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The pins came out today. Mooselet was a trooper. He whimpered a little bit, but he did great. Those pins were HUGE. I don't know exactly what I expected, but I didn't expect them to be that big. They were at least two inches long with a hook on the end, and pretty thick.
The doctor put on regular casts. He still doesn't want Mooselet walking on them for one more week. After that he can walk, but he should start with support. Unfortunately he will still have casts at Christmas. He will get them off that Friday.
I think that is it. Pop can add more if I forgot something.
Posts: 399 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Mooselet's casts came off Dec. 28th. He was restricted from running, jumping, or doing anything else that might cause him to fall.
All restrictions were lifted last week when he went for a check up. The doctor thought maybe on of his legs was a little undercorrected, but not enough to do anything about it.
He has some hip rotation issues (they don't rotate at the same angles), but there is nothing to be done about that. It actually might help him if he ever runs track (something about the direction run on an oval track).
Posts: 399 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Mama Squirrel: He has some hip rotation issues (they don't rotate at the same angles), but there is nothing to be done about that. It actually might help him if he ever runs track (something about the direction run on an oval track).
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I'm so glad to hear he's all right. I was pretty much inundated in Nov/Dec and not on Hatrack much, so I didn't read your posts at the time. His comment about the jello was just precious!
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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A friend from church (thank you Janet!) had a temporary wheelchair ramp built for us. Ladies from church will be providing some meals to help us out. Many people have made plans to visit Mooselet, and others have told us to call if he needs a visit to cheer him up.
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