Tru's Big Day

Finally, after almost three months of waiting, yesterday (10/25/2007) Tru had his first visit with the head of pediatric orthopedics at Johns Hopkins. For those of you that are not quite sure of Tru's "challenge", he has a congenital shortening of his right leg. In addition we learned, after seeing the x-rays, that the tibia is totally missing from his right leg. The femur and fibula bones do not meet at the knee joint but rather criss-cross (for the lack of a better term) in the knee area. Also, his fibula is greatly curved.

I will try to give an overview of the discussion that the doctors and I had:
After examining Tru and looking at his x-rays the doctor sat back, looked at me and asked me what I knew of Tru's condition, what I had read and what I thought the best course of treatment might be. While I was surprised that he took this approach I was pleased because Dallas and I do have some rather strong opinions on what we do and do not want for Tru. At the end of my somewhat prepared speech on the matter the doctor sat back, nodded and said, "I think that is a very mature view of the situation and I agree." I almost cried with relief.
So... he decided the best course of action at this time was to do nothing - no surgeries - and just fit Tru for a prosthesis (to the knee) to get him up and walking. How exciting!! No surgery and Tru will be walking soon.

I left the hospital beaming and could not wait to get home and email Dallas with all of the details. I did email him and was fortunate enough today to receive the first phone call from Dallas while "in theater". I was able to tell Dallas what the doctor had said and he was also surprised and pleased to hear what the doctor had to say.
(By the way, Dallas is fine - just a little tired because they have been traveling for several days to get to his ultimate destination. He said they should be more settled in a few days and hopes to have his computer set up soon so that we can try the webcam.)

So we have a course of treatment, we are pleased with this treatment method and things are rolling to get Tru up and walking.
But wait... there is more!

Today, I received a voice mail from Dr. Todd at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He said he had happened to see Tru's medical file and x-rays and would like me to call him. He wanted to see Tru.
I thought that was very interesting that a doctor I had never met nor heard of was calling me requesting an appointment to see Tru. So I called and had to leave him a voice mail.

[Just to back-track a little: Tru has seen several doctors at Walter Reed but no one in the orthopedic department. As a matter of fact the military told us that they could not handle Tru's case and sent us to a civilian doctor instead (Johns Hopkins). Tru had also had some x-rays taken at Walter Reed but only in preparation for our appointment at Johns Hopkins - no doctors at Walter Reed had any need or desire to see these x-rays. ]

Finally Dr. Todd called my cell phone and we spoke for a while. Apparently the radiology department pointed out their findings (after taking the x-rays I needed to take to Johns Hopkins) to Dr. Todd in the orthopedic department. That triggered his call to me. He told me that Tru's condition is a one-in-a-million case and he wants to see Tru and see what he can do for him. I told him about our visit to Johns Hopkins and he said he really wants to see Tru because he thinks he can offer more options. Dr. Todd's specialty is pediatric orthopedics but lately spends much of his time treating combat patients so he deals with amputees and limb injury victims on a daily basis. He went as far as to ask me when I wanted to come in and what time was best for me. What? He is asking me what is best for me? Well there is no way I can pass up this opportunity so Tru will be seeing Dr. Todd on 11/5/2007. Very interesting! I will let you know what happens!

And now for a photo - yes, I always have my camera with me:


Sometimes even going to the grocery store can be fun!