Unspeakable Pain


We are in Plano, TX, to examine Gigi's back, to see just why her surgery has failed to give her pain relief, and why she has such difficulty walking.

Plano houses a nationally respected scoliosis clinic. We personally know two people who have successfully had similar surgeries with great success through this clinic.

Yesterday she had a test where dye is injected in the spinal fluid, and then a series of CT scans produce 3D images.

Two hours later, while she was resting in her room, the surgeon abruptly entered and sat down.

From the very clear images it revealed that all the hardware, 22 screws, two rods, and three artificial discs had never bonded to the bone. They were in fact wobbling in the holes with her every movement causing severe pain. Her inability to walk normally was her body's attempt to take pressure off of the hardware.

My mind wasn't ready to absorb such a disaster, but it was reality.

The fix is a total redo here in Plano, 1,100 miles from home. He said set aside six weeks to two months for the entire procedure.

My big question was, "why do you think your fix will work when the other didn't?"

He gave a long elaborate answer that basically boils down to, they do the fusions very differently here. He did explain the process of harvesting bones from the patient and the making a paste/glue, then injecting proteins, and using growth stimulates.

So, we are planning for a long process, most likely in the early Spring.

4 comments:

Ken said...

Caca!

v28 said...

wow!!! such devastating news! I bet she's feeling like it's a long time till spring. Wishing you guys the best!

Unknown said...

Somebody "screwed" up.

terri said...

I can't even begin to imagine the depth of Gigi's frustration and pain. Keeping her in my prayers that this next surgery is the ticket.