Thursday, April 22, 2010

Savannah's Surgery

Savannah had her knee surgery yesterday. I think her knee was a little worse than what the doctor was expecting based on the MRI. The doctor had indicated that he'd be drilling holes up into her femur so it would bleed down into the piece of bone that was peeling away. He was hoping that's all he'd have to do, but he warned me that once he got in there, if it looked like the piece was already separating significantly, he'd probably put a couple pins in to hold the fragment in place while it healed.

When the surgery was over, he came out to talk to me. He told me that he put a screw in her bone as well as three "darts", and he drilled several small holes into her femur so it could bleed down into the piece that was peeling away. Then he told me that her guardian angel was looking out for her. You see, when I first brought Savannah to his office, she presented with just a little tendonitis pain. The doctor told me that if he'd seen Savannah first, he would have asked her questions about her pain and examined her leg and sent her home with the diagnosis of "tendonitis". However, the nurse came into the room first and ordered an xray. Although, based on the exam, Savannah seemed to only have tendonitis, the xray caught the OCD from which she wasn't experiencing any pain yet.

I love stories like this. If the nurse hadn't come in first, Savannah wouldn't have had the xray. Had she not had the xray, they wouldn't have found the OCD. Had they not found it when they did, it likely would've progressed too far to be fixed and she would've suffered problems from it for the rest of her life. And had Savannah not experienced the tendonitis, we wouldn't have sought medical help in the first place. Like the first sentence in my book, Because I Said So, "I believe things happen for a reason." Sure, you don't always know why at the time, but so often you can look back and things make sense. You have that "Ahhhh" moment and suddenly things are clear and you understand why something happened the way it did. That's why you shouldn't worry and stress over things. Like I tell my kids all the time, "Patience, young Jedi". Things will work out the way they should. Just keep the faith. :)

So, she's in pain and her leg is swollen right now. She'll be on crutches for at least two weeks at which point we'll go back to the doctor. And check this out - the screw and pins that were used in her knee are absorbable! They'll disintegrate and be absorbed by her body over the next two years. Amazing! Three tiny incisions for the arthroscopy and absorbable pins! The advances made over a fairly short amount of time astound me.

And thank you so much to all of you who took the time and effort to send Savannah a card! She loved reading every one and seeing where they were from! (One was all the way from Australia!) And she smiled and laughed at the "signatures" written by little ones. She's been making friendship bracelets all day with the kit she was sent. The "bug" was a big hit with Clay and Brooklyn. (She's gotta get that back before they lose it!) And I'm surprised she hasn't sent me out to use the Starbucks card for her yet. You guys really put a smile on her face! She asked me to thank everyone for her! THANK YOU!

I promised her I wouldn't put the picture I snapped of her being wheeled into surgery with a lovely blue scrubs hat on my blog. But I said nothing about using a picture of her knee...


24 comments:

Kelly R. said...

Thank goodness all went well! She's going to be so uncomfortable for awhile. I always had better luck taking an Excedrin P.M. at night instead of the pain meds. I've had a few surgeries and always hated the pain medication and the side effects. Good luck.

Carrie said...

that really is amazing and i love stories like that too. god really is watching out for you and your sweet little ones right now. :) here's praying for a quick recovery for savannah!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh. I forgot the card.
I will mail it out this weekend.
So glad all went well and you were very lucky to catch it when you did. Tell Savannah that the 2 weeks will go fast.
Can't believe how far surgery things have progressed. It is amazing what they do and I would have never thought they could disintegrate and be absorbed like this.

Hope all goes well now for you all. I know what a toll it takes on a parent so get as much rest as you can too.

Donna - NE Indiana

4boyz4me said...

So glad all went well with her surgery and that everything worked towards leading her to get the help she didn't know she needed. I have my own story like that when pregnant which saved my life and the life of my little one. Gotta love those happy endings!

And disolvable pins! That is soooo cool! They didn't have those 2yrs ago when my ds2 broke his arm and had to have it pinned. Or at least they didn't use them. How nice for her!

Nina said...

ugh that came up faster than I expected...I was going to send a card too...glad it went well and that is a great story for faith. thanks for sharing.

TJ said...

Sending hugs to Savannah from Sydney Australia. Hope your up and around soon!
TJ

Anonymous said...

Thank God it all went well. I love stories like this, too. God is so in control! All the best to Savannah from India (sorry, I also forgot to send a card!).
Gaby

Aloha Ya'll! said...

I can send a card from Hawaii! Where do I send it? Did you post an address?

Anonymous said...

Cool photo! Glad everything went well for Savannah! I hope to post my surgical photos too!

Get well soon, Savannah!

Karen

Sarah said...

Well, I'm glad the surgery went well (even if it was more involved than the doc thought it would be at first). Definitely a God thing that this was "stumbled upon" before it got really bad when she was older!

Hopefully the pain will be well-controlled with meds and she'll be feeling better soon! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad the surgery went well. I'll be praying for a full and rapid recovery--and patience for both of you!

Christina said...

Ouch!!! I'm glad it went well and hope she recovers quickly!

MaBunny said...

So glad to hear she came through the surgery well. It is a good thing that the nurse decided to order tht xray!
Hopes for a speedy recovery

Faith said...

Hi there. I've never commented before, but this post touched me. Please tell your sweet girl that I have OCD too!! In my right ankle...I was diagnosed when I was 12 and here I am at 32... I still ride horse, walk on a daily basis, do yoga, wear heels...many of which they told me I may not be able to do. The surgery is painful - and thinking about drills and plugging holes is unpleasant - but it gets better, I promise. Sending love your way!
Faith

Christina in Vegas said...

Savannah,

I hope that your knee heals quickly and I'm thrilled that a series of little things added up to such a positive find, saving you a lifetime of issues.

Unknown said...

Every time I read "absorbable" in my head it came across "adorable". I kept thinking, why in the world would screws be adorable?!?!? I think it's time for me to go home, I've worked too much. Tell Savannah, hopefully she'll get a laugh at the adorable screws in her knees.

Glad to hear everything went well!!

Anonymous said...

So glad that Savannah's surgery went ok! Sucks that it was much worse, but so glad they caught it now. Here's to a speedy recovery!!!

Lyuda said...

What is the picture showing exactly? And yeay for absorbable screws and pins! Glad everything went well..

Jennifer in Wisconsin said...

I do believe that God does work in mysterious ways. I saw my doctor to find out why my fingers had these blue marks, kind of like when you eat blueberries. Well a few medical tests later and I was scheduled for a craniotomy for a congenital malformation of my skull. Timing for surgery was a blessing because the kids were able to spend time with grandparents over springbreak. Recovery is slow but will help out years of pain that were easily explained by other reasons all my life. I thank God each day that I am still young enough to hopefully not sustain perminanted damage.

JennyF said...

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for Savannah. And God does work in mysterious ways -- my SIL's colon cancer was caught because her doctor ordered a colonoscopy after misreading her birthday on her chart. He thought she was about to turn 50, but she was only turning 49. Thank God for medical miracles!

Anonymous said...

Hope Savannah will have a speedy recovery :)

Is that really a pic of her knee?? It looks so much like those 4D ultrasound of a baby... with eyes, nose a mouth..

Amanda said...

I'm glad they found everything early and got Savannah all patched up. Arthroscopy is an amazing thing. I had it done on both of my knees in high school.

Anonymous said...

YES! I thought it was a picture of a baby too!

Hugs to Savannah (and the rest of you). What does she make of the picture?

Unknown said...

You don't hear much about OCD. My son had OCD in his ankle when he was young and had to wear a cast for 8 weeks one summer. He is almost 20 and still has issues with that ankle. I don't think alot of people even know what OCD is. Thanks for sharing your daughter's story. Hope she feels better quick.
Blessings
Diane

Who's Visiting My Blog Right Now?

 
Home About Dawn Blog Books News & Events Press Kit Contact

Dawn Meehan 2008-. All Rights Reserved.
Site Design by Jones House Creative