Kyle's H.O. Surgery with "The Best of the Best"

Return to Atlanta

So we are back.  And Kyle has already seen and hugged his therapists with immense gratitude!

We are here for Kyle's Heterotopic Ossification (H.O. for short).  Big words, but I'll put it simpler.  Our bodies are always making new bone, but usually where it's supposed to be.  When H.O. occurs, our bodies get signals mixed up and bone cells create new bone outside of our skeleton. When it's the result of trauma, surgery can be performed if the new bone growth has stopped.  Kyle's elbow was frozen, and his orthopedic surgeon believed surgery was the only way to go and it was time.

We took Kyle to dinner at Maggios our first night here. The waiter asked if we were celebrating anything. "Well, I guess we are!" we replied, and told him Kyles story and that he was about to get his arm fixed. This is what the waiter brought him!  Everyone is so unbelievably nice here in Atlanta. 

The Arm Surgery

Kyle arrived Shepherd Center almost seven months ago.  After all the surgeries in Fairfax ICU to fix multiple broken bones, he arrived Atlanta with stitches still needing to be removed.  This photo, taken last July, shows how his arm could still straighten at the time.

Seven months later, now January, these photos of Kyle's arm being shaved for surgery show the limits of his elbow movement.  These two photos show the extent of his straighten and bend.  That's how much extra bone had grown in his elbow.

This is how we left Kyle, without a care in the world, before he headed off to surgery.

The surgery was successful.  I am not squeamish, so I really was interested in how exactly they remove the bone.  The good old fashioned way! They take a chisel and hammer away!  There was also a nerve that was squished behind all the new bone growth so they pulled that forward.  

                                                                                                 

 

Soon after surgery, Kyle was taken to Oncology where he received Radiation Therapy, the same as given to cancer patients.  This kills the unwanted growing bone cells, in hopes they will not return.   He laid on this hard slab table for close to two hours.

Kyle stayed three days in the hospital in order to carefully monitor the fluid drainage and to begin intense therapy.

Kyle's therapist was given instructions for aggressive therapy.  She came three times a day and an hour before each session Kyle was administered an anti inflammatory drug along with morphine.  

The morphine allowed Joanna to straighten and bend without limits. 

Up and out of bed, Kyle begins trying his therapy on his own.

A hand cycle helps with the straightening and bending.  

Looking good!  And we're outta here!

Our thanks go out to Dr Peljovich and Dr Gillespie of the Hand and Upper Extremity Center of Georgia,  more than they will ever know!  When deciding on where to have Kyle's surgery, we were told by many they were the "best of the best".  These two doctors are the greatest.  Every day Kyle shows me his excitement for all the things a bending elbow can do.  You don't realize until you don't have it.  Now we just wait for time to regenerate the nerves that so he will regain the use of his hand.

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

The Return to Atlanta

Road trips can be fun.  Well, that is for me,  if  you have a talker in the car.

Greg and Kyle have never been much for talking so when we were deciding whether to fly or drive for our return trip to Atlanta, I knew the answer was simple... fly and rent a car for the three weeks we would be there. That is, until I saw the prices for renting these days.  What the heck are all these added fees?  They are more expensive than the car rental!  Guess it's been a long time since I rented a car.

So we drove.... for ten hours.

But two things made this trip fly by.  One, the "new" (and I say that with much love in my heart) Kyle, talks so much more to me now.  Our five hour trips to NJ fly by, so what's five more hours?
A cake walk.

And two, we were going to Atlanta!  "Home  of the Braves", home to the best darn peaches you'll ever taste, home to over 70 streets, road, circles, courts, etc that are named Peachtree (yes over 70!), but especially, home to Shepherd Center, where our hearts embrace the best rehabilitation and the best therapists for brain and spinal cord injuries that you'll ever encounter.

Kyle's Discharge on October 24, 2014

Kyle's last day of therapy two months ago
included hanging out with his pet therapy
friends, listening to some music entertainment
at lunch time, and of course his "graduation"
send off, from the families we met, and from his beloved therapists.

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“The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.” 
― Frederick Buechner

Ryan and Kyle had Trucks and Patriots in common.  Ryan went home to Florida to his adored children that he painfully missed so much.  I hope to see Ryan and Brenda again someday, as they are always in my thoughts.

Coincidentally, the Pathways program brought in a band to play for patients and
families on the day Kyle was being discharged

Pizza for lunch and then hitting the road!

Kyle's dedicated therapy team.

A very well deserved "Certificate of Achievement"

♪ "Hello, hello... I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello" ♪

One of the last things we did that final week was to go to the top of the Westin Hotel and enjoy the view from the revolving restaurant.  These photos are a fitting good bye and now a hello again to our home away from home that was for over 4 months.

And so here we are once again in Atlanta, with a few days of surgery, and then recovery, and then two weeks of therapy.  Surgery and rehab photos coming tomorrow.