The Draz Fam

Drew began complaining about his hip several months ago. It was a sharp pain that came when we transferred or repositioned him. Then he began to complain about his knee. Over the weeks, his knee became an almost constant discomfort. Stretching his leg helped momentarily, but soon we heard the refrain, “My knee, my knee.” We are blessed to live just miles from a hospital that specializes in neuromuscular diseases. We adore his ortho doc and trust him completely. Surgery to relieve Drew’s discomfort was scheduled for yesterday. Knowing that the surgery and recovery will be long and difficult, we tried to give Drew an especially fun day on Sunday. By afternoon it had warmed up enough for Drew to make a trip outside.

Drew is especially proud of his new boots.
Bright and early on Monday morning we headed for the hospital. Drew’s only concerns were blood draws and IVs. Once he learned that he would not get poked with a needle until he was asleep, he was amazingly brave. Note the two thumbs up in the image below.

Daddy changed into a gown so that he could stay with Drew until he was asleep.
The plan was to work on the alignment of his hips and keep them in place with titanium plates. To alleviate the knee pain, the hamstrings would be lengthened. Drew’s pain has been mainly on his left side, so the doctor decided to complete the left before moving on to the right side. It turned out to be a very difficult surgery. It took almost four hours to complete just the left side. At that point the docs decided that it would be safest not to proceed to the right side. That would have meant an extremely long surgery with blood loss that might be a bit much for an SMA child. The good news is that since they found the hip in such bad shape, there is a very good chance that the repair will eliminate his pain.
Although Drew left for surgery at about 8:00, it wasn’t until almost 4:00 that he was reunited with his mom.

Drew will wear a spica cast for about six weeks to keep his hip and leg immobile. It’s plastic, starting under his arms and extending to his feet with straps on the top. He must be carefully repositioned every two hours to avoid pressure point leading to bed sores.

Yes, we have a long road ahead of us. At least three months until Drew is back to normal. We can do it!
God bless Drew!
Nana Barb