Review of Doctor's Visit

First of all, I apologize for taking so long to post the results of the doctor's visit. We have been quite busy this past week with all sorts of doctor's appointments. I with my OB, NST, and diabetic appointments, Brittany with her orthodontist appointments, and Braden with his. We are all relieved and feeling so much more confident that things will work out after this last appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. It is so nice to know what we need to do and to have a plan. The doctor explained in detail how severe Braden's disease is, what surgery he'll need to have, and what treatment we needed to do to help the bone heal properly. First of all, the loss of blood flow to Braden's hip bone started happening 6-8 months ago and is now in the fragmentation stage (Stage 2) where the blood flow has returned and the dead bone is being taken away and dissolved while new bone is starting to grow in its place. The dead bone was still strong structurally until the blood flow returned and started to dissolve it and grow new bone, which isn't as strong. Imagine a baby doing the same things a six-year-old does and putting that much pressure on its new bone. The bone wouldn't be strong enough to prevent fractures....and so it is with this new bone growing in. In order for it to grow back properly, the leg has to be turned out at an angle (35 degrees) so that the whole femoral head is encompassed by the hip cup until regeneration is complete. This will help the bone grow back to its round shape and thus prevent problems in the future with limping or arthritis. So Braden will need to wear a brace (Scottish Rite brace) to keep his legs at that perfect angle (seventy-degrees between his two legs) for the next year or so, twenty-four hours a day unless he is bathing or swimming. Can you guess how much we'll be swimming this summer??? He he. Braden has a limited range of motion in his left hip because of the inflammation where the cartilage meets the bone. Because of this, he needs to have minor outpatient surgery (tenotomy) where the doctor will make a small incision and go in and lengthen a tendon to improve the range of motion. He is also taking an anti-inflammatory 3 times a day to help with pain and inflammation. Just from looking at the x-rays, the doctor thinks that the prognosis is good, but wants to do an arthrogram where they will inject a dye to see if the cartilage is still round around the bone. If it is, then we know that we caught it soon enough and things should heal back properly. The arthrogram will be done during the surgery on May 27th. We've taken Braden to get measured for his new brace and he will begin to wear it right after the surgery. Until then, the doctor has said that Braden should be able to do most things as long as he stops when it hurts. He did say he shouldn't play organized sports before the surgery because of the pressure to compete even when it is hurting. So he doesn't get to finish out his baseball season this year. Oh well. But after the surgery and the starting of wearing the brace, he can do everything he wants, organized sports and all, except for the trampoline. Braden was elated when he heard that he would be able to still ride his bike, run, play sports, and do everything he loves to do. He will just need to adjust to the brace and get used to running with his legs spread out at an angle. The brace he will wear will fit under his clothes and prevent his legs from moving inward or farther outward than the angle it is set at. He will still be able to ride his bike, bend his legs, sit cross-legged, etc. We are still praying for the bone to heal properly and that everything will turn out fine in the long run. We are thankful and have felt the comfort and power of everyone's prayers already and we feel so blessed to have this be happening at a young enough age that Braden's bones should be able to heal properly and he shouldn't have any problems in the future. Thanks for all your phone calls and support. I'm sorry if we didn't get back to everyone that left messages of concern.