Kate's parents came to town to help out, so on the morning of the surgery Kate and I took Molly to Sick Kids while Jacob and Zoë stayed at Dan and Alison's place with the grandparents. Molly was cool as a cucumber before the surgery. She had Flower with her, the stuffed dog that Sick Kids gave her at the pre-surgery appointment. Flower looks like the progeny of the dog she's had since she was born. After we checked in, we went up to the waiting room. And then we went into the pre-op room where Molly's vitals were taken. Molly was comforted to be assigned to bed J (obviously for Jacob), and by some Grandma-delivered activities. Kate was allowed to go into the operating room while Molly was being put to sleep. Then she came and waited with me. The surgery was scheduled for 3 hours, but it actually lasted 4 1/2 hours. The last 1 1/2 were a bit nervous, as I was imagining all the possible things that could be going wrong (fortunately it was foot surgery - most people were there for much more serious problems). Anyway, the doctor emerged smiling and told us that everything had gone fine. She had two tenotomies, snipping her achilles tendons to allow them to stretch. That procedure didn't provide the desired flexibility so he also entered the joint capsules to "release" them. He also did a tendon transfer on the top of her right foot but deemed it unnecessary for the left. The apparent result is that her feet now have 15-20 degrees of flexion beyond 90 degrees. Meaning that she should be able to bend her knees while standing, for the first time in her life. She's in short casts, which were put on during the surgery. Molly stayed one night at Sick Kids, in a really nice room, with Kate in a cot right next to her. The staff at Sick Kids were perfect - what a wonderful place.
After about 5 days of not being able to walk (mostly because of discomfort in the right foot due to the tendon transfer), she started getting around on her own again. And now she's completely mobile and active, as she was in the casts before Christmas. The casts come off next Friday, when she'll also be fitted for AFO braces. It takes about 2 weeks to make the braces, so she'll have to wear the casts for 2 more weeks (although they will be removeable then for things like swimming and baths). She missed one week of school and has been going half days since then. But she has been a total trooper about the whole thing. She didn't even cry once pre or post operatively. And I haven't seen her feel sorry for herself at all. We should all be that brave.
- Molly pointing out the lucky "J"
- Some last minute colouring to settle the nerves
- My sweet, brave girl
- Removing Erin's fingernail polish
- Waking up post-op
- Requesting a kiss from Jacob (you can see Kate's overnight cot in the background)
- A visit from Grandma
- And Zoë too
- And Molly's star-chart. Which has subsequently been all filled in
1 comment:
She is a star, Chris. Has she started to belt out Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots were made for walking" yet?
Bet when she gets back to kindergarten full-time she will still be top of the table b/c she is one sharp tack, that gal.
Hope we can see you all soon. It's been an age! We are around this sSfree.
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