Bye Bye Fixator...

Our tough little girl, sleeping off the anesthesia after her fixator removal.

As we were doing Lauren's routine pin site care after her bath, we discovered that she had two broken pins on her fixator. She had stopped wanted to put weight on that leg a few days prior to that and we weren't sure why. Her doctors tried to troubleshoot with us over the phone, and we ended up treating her with antibiotics for a possible pin site infection and letting her rest her leg for a couple days. The broken pins were difficult to notice so we're not sure how long they had been in that condition, but were most likely the reason Lauren stopped walking. Dr. "Jeff" Young, Dr. Standard's helper, told us that Lauren was essentially outgrowing the frame and that it was ready to come off. Dr. Standard happened to be away in the Dominican Republic for the week doing charity work, but they said it would be fine for him to remove Lauren's fixator when he was back since it was not an emergency or causing harm to Lauren's leg.

By the beginning of last week, the broken pins were really starting to be uncomfortable to Lauren. She wanted to walk so badly that she'd try but you could just see the pain it was causing her. She would usually stop and ask to be carried. Dr. Standard called and said he could do her surgery Wednesday or Friday. We were anxious to have it done Wednesday but opted for Friday because of an impending blizzard for Michigan and ice storm for Baltimore. Thankfully, the roads were cleared of all the snow and ice by Thursday morning and the weather for our drive was clear and sunny.

Friday morning, Lauren's surgery went smoothly and very fast. Dr. Standard said the actual removal only takes five minutes. We chose bright pink for her cast, which expected to be on for about the next four weeks. Lauren did so well with recovery that we decided to pack up and drive a few hours towards home Friday evening. In the morning, Lauren started walking up and down the hotel hallway while holding our hands, and by afternoon she was strolling the travel plazas all on her own. She wasn't phased by the fixator, I don't know why we'd wonder if she'd be phased by the cast. This little girl is amazing!