First Day Post-Op

Well, it was rough night as expected. Dr. Reinhart came to get us at 6:30 last night to let us know the surgery was finished. So from entrance into OR until her reappearance in the waiting area was seven hours. Whew!

Several tendon releases were completed, and then the intense work of bringing the right femur down into a new socket. They took about three centimeters off the femur to allow it to be pulled down into place more easily. This sounds drastic, and it is, but it's good because Maxim's knees are now even with each other and that will allow optimal stability later. The most complicated work was to try and shape the modified femur top to fit as well as possible into the new socket. Maxim's tendons and joints are so tight in some ways (most likely due to arthrogryposis, which I'll have to explain later when I understand more fully), it was really a challenge to get everything into place and frankly, Dr. Reinhart is troubled. I could see it on her face when she first came to get us and then late last night she came to see me again at Maxim's room. Daniel and the older kids had gone home earlier in the evening (I'm so glad we were all together during the surgery; it makes a great difference emotionally even if we were just sitting around waiting for updates).

Anyway, Dr. Reinhart took me into an office area and showed me the CT scans they got after the surgery. It shows the femur in a much better position, with a plate and screws holding it in place. Dr. Reinhart explained to me how she had hoped to be able to shape the top of the femur better for a solid fit into the hip socket. There just wasn't enough bone to do all she wanted to. So she wanted us to be ready for the fact that we will not only do the anticipated removal of the plate/screws in about six months, but she and her partners may seriously consider further work in Maxim's hip depending on how things heal from yesterday's surgery. Dr. Reinhart had tears in her eyes while she was explaining all of this.

I look at it from a little different perspective. If I thought for a moment that someone didn't do their job, I would be beyond disappointment. I would probably be angry. But this is just a matter of the doctor setting really high and valid goals for her work on Maxim, really wanting to do everything possible, and not being able to achieve all of it yesterday. I told her not to be so hard on herself. We have all gone into this, knowing that Maxim is a work in progress (aren't we all in one way or another?).

Really, the progress of this surgery, although not everything Dr. Reinhart hoped for, is remarkable. Maxim's legs will now have much great range of motion where they meet his torso, there is not nearly the level of tension between his hip and spine which existed before so we don't need to be as concerned about future problems with spinal curvature, and Maxim has hip sockets that are in line with each other. Now the tissue growth will be happening in the proper location instead of at some odd dislocated spot, so we have a lot of reasons to be optimistic that Maxim will get on his feet someday.

Please pray for Maxim's recovery. He has a lot of pain, off and on, as they sort out the best balance of pain meds, and also ran a fever during most of the night last night. Pray for the doctor and her team; especially that they will continue to be reminded that all their skills are a gift from God and He is the one with the perfect plan for Maxim. That's what we want to be in line with.

For those who like to keep up with Maxim's latest color scheme, his body cast is a bright orange, almost fluorescent. There is no way anyone could lose track of him.

Thanks for prayers and encouragement.

Shabbat Shalom.