handsful

We left the house this morning at 7:15, arriving at our appt. at Shriners in Greenville, SC right on time.  We saw the child life specialist, nurses, anesthesiologist, surgeons, pain management specialist, and prosthetist.  Everyone was SO nice and welcoming, we feel very well taken care of here.  He received a stuffed dog at admission, his choice of Build-a-Bear (he chose the guy dressed up to go fishing…Ethan, you’ll love it), and then received another bear at the R McD house later on!

Some points of interest:

The surgeon said he would call Dylan’s deformity either a tibial deficiency or transverse deficiency.

He won’t have to cut through bone (GOOD news!), but will cut through the (fixed) joint instead.  Much easier, less pain, faster healing.

His surgery is scheduled for 10:45am and should take about 1 1/2hrs.  They expect he’ll only be in the hosp for 1 night.

They will give him a caudal block, which is similar to a spinal block – this will numb him completely from the belly down.  It’s given by injection at the sacral gap above his bottom.  This will last for 8 hours after surgery, which they say will help reduce the risk of phantom limb pain.  They will give him this when he’s already asleep.

He will come out of surgery already casted (his short leg completely incased in the cast), which will stay on for about 3-4 weeks.

After the cast is removed, he’ll be in a pressure sock (to help bring down any residual swelling) for another 2 weeks.

After that, work can begin on making his prosthetic leg!!

After his pre-op, we drove around downtown Greenville and were surprised to see how nice it is.  We parked and walked around, had lunch, and did a little shopping.  We then checked in at the R McD house, where we were given a tour and shown our room.  It’s actually a suite, with a living area, bath, and bedroom.

playroom…he’s loving the train table.

This place is wonderful, I can’t say enough about it.  Volunteers in the community bring a homemade dinner every night.  Tonight’s meal was provided by a baptist church, and we had mac n’ cheese, chicken patties, rolls, potato salad, sweet tea…all very good!  There is a huge pantry of food that we’re free to use, a great playroom and outdoor playset, big family room downstairs with TV (which, Randy is watching the b-ball playoffs right now), etc.  We’ve met some nice people staying here…one young man having surgery tomorrow right before Dylan’s and 2 families with pre-mature babies at the hospital beside Shriners.

Walking UP the slide.  There’s just nothing he can’t do.

he’s hopping so well lately!

daddy and Dylan slide races.

After dinner, we headed back out downtown for ice cream, then back to the room for Dylan’s bath (last one for 3-4 weeks!), and then it was off to bed for him.  He’s been asking all day to “go home”…I think he senses this is different and I expect him to be a little scared tomorrow.  We’ve talked about him going to the hospital, going night-night while they “fix” his leg, and then having a cast like last time.  (benefit of him breaking his leg in January is that body casts are BTDT for him…God does work in mysterious ways)   He asked for his new leg a few times today, and we keep trying to explain to him that other things have to happen first and THEN he’ll get his leg.  How do you explain time to a 3 year old?

Clean boy!

See you tomorrow with another update on our sweet guy.