Monday, 3 May 2010

Daniel's Surgery - Follow Up Procedure

Today Daniel had a follow-up procedure performed on his hip by Dr Paley at St Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. After Daniel's Superhip surgery performed in January this year, there were two joins in the newly reconstructed femoral neck. One has healed really well, that you couldn't even see it on the x-ray but unfortunately the other has not healed, called a non-union.

The second procedure involved implanting some additional protein to help promote healing along with some minor adjustments to the fixator. The procedure was done under magnification so the incision is pretty small. Dr Paley did not have make any major changes to the external fixation so the procedure was pretty quick. Daniel sounded a bit hoarse after the procedure so he was given a respiratory treatment to help reduce inflammation but fortunately we were able to take him home a few hours after the procedure. He was already walking on it this afternoon, and we were trying to encourage him to take it a bit easy.

We have to wait for about six weeks to see whether the procedure was successful and Daniel can have his fixator removed. Fingers crossed, everyone! We can fly home to London next week. Meanwhile, we are going to enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation in the Florida sunshine and Max's first birthday on Sunday.

We are very fortunate to be staying at our friend Hayley's apartment on the beach, who we met when we were here last time. Thanks so much Hayley! A much more positive environment to recover than the hotel overlooking the I-95 highway!

A big thanks to our incredible friend, Fiona, who came with us from London to Florida to help us out. Fiona looked after Max for us during Daniel's appointments and surgery which was such a huge help and she is a pro at cheering up Daniel too. It has made this return visit so much easier. Thank you, Auntie Fi!

Here is a video of Daniel (sounding a bit hoarse) this afternoon after he came home from the hospital. He is such a pro at this hospital thing now!



Posted By Kristen (Daniel's Mum)

7 comments :

Unknown said...

Dan is an amazing little boy and such a trooper. The mood he was in when he got back, who would have thought he'd had an operation! So glad that I was able to help by looking after Max and thank you for allowing me to escape the London weather for a couple of weeks.

Anonymous said...

Kristen, thoughts are with you all. What a fabulous little boy Dan is. It must be hard to watch him have to have all this surgery. However, he will thank you for it when he is running for Australia (or GB) in the olympics!! ;)
Stay strong and keep smiling x

Diane said...

By the way that last post was from Diane Harrison!!

wes said...

Hey, Glad it went to plan guys! that hostable must be a pretty good one.

Coco said...

Well done, Danny! I sent you lots of nice thoughts yesterday (Mama concentrated hers on your parents) and I hope you could feel them. I really look forward to seeing you soon: it won't be as fun at MS today without you!

Anonymous said...

Hoping your leg is better Daniel
and Happy Birthay to Max who will always be able to boast that he spent his first birthday in Florida!
Love to all
Aunty Jenny and Uncle Chris

Auntie Wendy said...

Daniel, it can be tough experiencing "hostable" when you are such a little boy. Your cousin Tom knows a lot about "hostables" too: he spent a lot of time in them when he was little (and not so little). But you look like you've got it all sorted now and you are a real expert.

Happy birthday to Max!