Surgery Monday.

So I've been kind of ignoring something for a while and haven't mentioned it because of the aforementioned ignoring.

Christian is having surgery on Monday morning.

I kept meaning to at least mention it here and there but I would forget and, again, ignore it. And now here it is. It was supposed to happen tomorrow, but because we have to take extra care of his breathing under anesthesia, it will be Monday morning in the hospital.

The surgery is called a Bilateral Hemiepiphysiodesis for the distal femur and proximal tibia. Hemi-whaaa?

It's a big, long name for a small, outpatient surgery. Yes, I said OUTPATIENT!

So why are we doing this? Well, Christian's hips are coming out of socket. They have been for a while and it's something we know will happen. Christian doesn't have normal weight baring and mixed with high spasticity and tone, hip dislocation is inevitable. One option is a double pelvic osteotomy. This option, through surgery, attempts to put the hip back in the socket. It's a hard surgery and involves a body cast from the waste down for six weeks. Many times, these surgeries have to be redone. It's successful for some, and not for others. It's something we're trying to avoid.

While looking at Christian's hip x-rays, legs, and knees, our ortho doctor suggested this surgery that basically consists of an incision on the inside of both knees. I'm a visual person so these pictures helped me see it better.

If you'd like to learn more about the surgery and procedure, visit www.guidedgrowth.com.

This is what Christian's legs look like.

See how he is knock-kneed? His knees bow in and his bones are growing in that direction.

This isn't just aesthetic. This relates to the hips in that Christian has external rotation. This means his legs extend and turn out. This actually would protect his hips if not for the tone pulling his knees in. His knees pulling in puts pressure on the hips and pulls them out.

So the ortho suggested doing this surgery to take pressure off the knees. Presumably, this will take pressure off his hips and straighten out his legs. The whole point is to stave off a the big, bad hip surgery for as long as possible.

We'll go in Monday morning and take him home right after surgery. Recovery will hopefully be quick. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers Monday morning.