Bilateral Proximal Femoral Reorientation Osteotomy Surgery

Bilateral Proximal Femoral Reorientation Osteotomy Surgery (orig. published 4.13.11)


12:00 am. Night before surgery:

Mommy and Daddy: Colson, drink some water so you don't get dehydrated for your surgery.

Colson: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! (Simultaneously waking up the whole 2nd floor of the Ronald McDonald House).

Mommy and Daddy: Oooo. (Declaring defeat.)


5:30 am. Morning of surgery:

Mommy and Daddy: Colson, it's time to get up for your big day!

Colson: My big day?

Mommy and Daddy: Yeah! You're going to have your surgery today!

Colson: NOOOOOOOOOO!!! (Again, waking up RMDH.)

Mommy and Daddy: Hmmm. Get in the car. (Declaring victory. Hah)


When do you start letting your child make their own decisions? There was a point in time where Colson couldn't wait to walk like his sister Cayleigh. Then as surgery day got closer, he informed us that he liked his wheelchair and he didn't want to walk anymore. As a parent, cuddling with my son last night and watching him sleep all night (no, it's actually not possible to sleep the night before your child goes in for an operation) , he was curled up with his arms around Raffi, laying on his side, his little legs bent as they always are, gravity allowing his legs to come together and be closed. I wondered if we were in fact, making the right decision or not. What's wrong with his little body as it is right now? He's so perfect to me (of course he is, I'm his mother). If he doesn't want to walk anyways, maybe he means it forever? I suppose that decision is why I'm the parent and not the child. Someone somewhere decided people my age were capable of making these decisions for the tiny people in our lives.

We continue to rely on the faith we've put in our research, and his medical team. Dr. VB is extraordinary, he has such positive energy when he enters a room that puts everyone at ease, and makes Colson smile every time. I'm confident, in retrospect from last night, that we've made the right decision. Just look at these legs!




Dr. VB likes to make Dalmatian casts - I think they are pretty darn cute!

The hardest thing as a parent is to see your child in pain and know there's nothing you can do to help them. We had previously experienced what we (and nurses at MKE Children's) thought was a morphine sensitivity and we told the doctors so. 


Talking to the Anesthesiologist


Colson being silly on Versid

Apparently, morphine sensitivity wasn't right either. We think now, it might just be a general "general anesthesia" sensitivity. We withheld morphine this time around, and had a very sad and unhappy little boy on our hands. About the same as we had with his last surgery when he had had the morphine. We gave him morphine about 2:00 today and it was like night and day. He was calm. He was quiet. He was talking. It was wonderful. Daddy entertained Colson for a good 30-45 minutes by having Colson say things to draw and then drawing it for him. We went through aliens, and rocket ships, and Megamind, and cats, and our family and the moon and shooting stars and meteorites too.





Sad boy after surgery





Daddy drawing for Colson



Happy Boy after morphine and Daddy drawings


Our nurse today - Ally is fantastic too! Colson isn't falling for her trickery though "let's put the magic blanket on your legs, it will make the pain go away!" Nope. Didn't work. Colson prefers to dictate to her exactly what she should and shouldn't be doing. She's pretty cooperative. If she goes against Colson's suggestions, she does it quick and with a smile. Thanks Ally! Hope to have you back again!


No Colson, don't look at the monitor, look at me! The constant battle :-)

Thank you to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers, they really are uplifting, and Colson appreciates them as well. We truly have the best family and friends - and medical team!


Much love.

-J-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All is Well

Image
All is Well (orig. published 10.19.12) We are eight days post-op and Colson is doing amazing. Neurontin continues to be a world changer for our lives as he is handling life SO much better this time around. We were released from the hospital on Monday (a day early yay!) and have been hanging out at my dad's house in Richmond, VA ever since. Colson has one very straight leg in a very red cast and one very bent leg in a very large piece of equipment. And he is doing fantastic. He wanted me to take a picture to show everyone how he can wiggle his toes: Some of you may know and some may not, but the cost for these operations is making a huge impact on our family. We are having a fundraiser here:  http://www.gofundme.com/z67qc  if anyone can help that would be amazing! Just one night at the Ronald McDonald house is $20.00 which isn't much, but it really adds up with how long we end up staying there. I'm humbled at the amount of money we have been able to raise, and I'd also ...
Read more

Spontaneous Love

Image
Spontaneous Love (orig. published 2.20.09) You know your child loves you when you receive that first spontaneous sign of love. That first random hug, or that first kiss without asking. Last night, at bedtime, Colson was in my arms and he put his face in my face and stared at me and then started giving me Eskimo kisses and then stared at me some more. Then he politely demanded about 40 “real” kisses from me before I could lay him down, but that’s ok. I had just received my first “unasked” for kisses from my baby. Colson is growing up so fast. Tomorrow he will be 21 months old. He is still 21 pounds. And he is still wearing 9 month clothes. But, mentally, he’s practically a 3 year old (according to his therapists). He knows the letters A, B, D, E, I, M, N, O, P, T, and Y when you show him them on his blocks. He knows how to record his favorite shows, and how to delete them when he’s done. He knows how to turn the satellite on and off for the TV, and he knows how to do the “Hot Dog Dance...
Read more

It's a Miracle (League)!

Image
It's a Miracle (League)  (orig. published 6.11.11) "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -- Albert Einstein What amazing opportunities children of all abilities have these days. Colson had his first baseball game this last Wednesday, thanks to the community of Appleton, WI, the hearts and minds of The Miracle League of the Fox Valley, the teenagers, young adults and adults that have volunteered their time to support the children as buddys and as coaches, and the amazing children that have the ability to play. We had a blast, Colson was so surprised that he hit the ball (with the help of his buddy assisting Colson in swinging his arms) that he froze in place and didn't know what to do at first! Hah! He was waiting for someone to bring it back to him! Run Colson run we all said! And off to 1st base him and his buddy went. When he made it around all the bases, he ran up to the f...
Read more