We witness a miracle each time a child enters a life. But those who must make their journey home across time and miles, growing in the hearts of those waiting to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny. And placed among us by God's own hands.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Surgery Two is Complete

So we made the very difficult decision on Monday to move forward with completing the second surgery that Vanessa required in order to walk normally. The orthopedic surgeons at Denver Children's Hospital were able to correct the bending of her tibia bones with the first surgery last Monday, however because both of her femurs had a rotation to them this left her with pretty severe in-toeing. As her mood improved this last weekend she noticed right away that her feet were "bent" and she was not happy about it. We discussed her options with the surgeon and weighed out doing the surgery now versus later. What the decision came down to is that if we waited to do the second surgery, perhaps 6 months from now, that she would have to experience the whole ordeal of surgery, hospitalization, pain management, and recovery all over again. So we determined that even though she had such a difficult time last week that it would be best to get it over with and have one healing phase (not being able to walk for 2 months) as opposed to two. This way she also can stay on the current pain management medications which have helped her in the last several days. Since she is on rather potent pain killers it would have been risky from a addiction standpoint to take her off of them and then have to put her back on them later down the road. So to get to the point the second surgery was completed last night and her legs and feet are now completely straight. Of course time will tell as to how she heals and adjusts to walking on her new legs. She did have some pain last night which appears to be managed now, as she has slept most of the day. We are going to have to start all over again with getting her off of the Epideral and cathetor and eating again. So please pray for Vanessa's healing this week and that she be able to leave the hospital and come home soon.

2 comments:

  1. I'm so glad it's all over and you can begin the healing process. I adopted twins from the same O. who came home after the earthquake. It had been a three-year journey up to that point.

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  2. Praying for you guys and especially for Vanessa and that God heals her quickly and that her pain is minimal!

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