Zach's surgery

[Guest guest]

Hello friends

Well we went to the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday and he is having surgery on

his ankle on Monday the 8th. It is called calcaneo navicular bar excision .

He has severe valgus defromity.

Anyway I am a little apprehensive about this and so is he. I think he is more

upset about nor being able to eat after midnight Sunday night then the

surgery.

But I will keep you posted on his progress which I think consists of a splint

for a week then a cast for 6 weeks. So if anyone has any words of wisdom to

impart please do so .

thanks

Angel mom to Zach 10 jra

[Guest guest]

does zach have the same teacher francesca had for her last surgery???

some people are so damned insensitive.......send your little man our very

best wishes, he's very brave!

much love

julie

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Zach, my 8 year old son had his 4th surgery on Monday and it went as

could as I could have possibly hoped. It was for reconstruction and it

took less than two hours which is less than half the time it has

previously taken. Even though the cholesteatoma removed last year was

very large and wrapped around his facial nerve there was no sign of

regrowth and the ear had healed beautifully and Dr. Roberson felt that

he didn't need tubes in his right ear.

His anesthesiologist was fantastic and he had very little pain and no

nausea after the surgery (possibly because the surgery was not as long)

although he slept for a couple hours after the operation was over which

I think helped a lot also.

He was given an elixer before surgery which helped him (and me!) a great

deal as he was giggling and smiling as he was carted off to surgery.

The worst part for him is always the bandage around his head and ear

that he has to wear the first 24 hours--now that that is off he is much

happier. He is having a tough time with the packing now though and he

doesn't want me near his ear but the packing will be removed next week

and he has steri-strips behind his ear which will be taken off at the

post op.

My only complaint has to do with his school. Instead of receiving a get

well card or a phone call from the teacher she was sure I received all

the necessary homework and classwork that she wants him to complete

before next Monday! I guess some people just can't imagine what this

surgery must feel like and they don't try to understand and I find that

pretty frustrating. I told him not to do anything he doesn't feel like

doing and we will deal with classwork when he is feeling better.

Good luck to all of you who are up for surgery in the near future-our

thoughts are with you.

>

[Guest guest]

Glad Zach's surgery went well and I hope his recovery goes smoothly

too.

Katelyn has the same type of teacher. I just gave him one of

those " you are a lunatic " looks and took the work. Ironically, his

daugher ended up having an emergency appendictomy and I believe he

now realizes how traumatic the whole surgery/recovery thing can be

on the child and moreso on the parents.

[Guest guest]

I'm a teacher and this is ridiculous. When I have a chid who is sick or had surgery, I wait till they come back and make sure they are not wasting any time on busy work. If Zack has an assignment that you feel is busy work, meaning it contains concepts that he knows already, don't waste his time. The teacher really gave you a due date?? Hopefully, Zack doesn't feel pressure to get this done. How insensitive!!

Take care of that guy and don't let the teacher get to you. She doesn't have a clue. Wondering...does she have kids?? All the best to Zack!!!

Re: Re:Zach's surgery

Hi,Zach, my 8 year old son had his 4th surgery on Monday and it went as could as I could have possibly hoped. It was for reconstruction and it took less than two hours which is less than half the time it has previously taken. Even though the cholesteatoma removed last year was very large and wrapped around his facial nerve there was no sign of regrowth and the ear had healed beautifully and Dr. Roberson felt that he didn't need tubes in his right ear.His anesthesiologist was fantastic and he had very little pain and no nausea after the surgery (possibly because the surgery was not as long) although he slept for a couple hours after the operation was over which I think helped a lot also.He was given an elixer before surgery which helped him (and me!) a great deal as he was giggling and smiling as he was carted off to surgery.The worst part for him is always the bandage around his head and ear that he has to wear the first 24 hours--now that that is off he is much happier. He is having a tough time with the packing now though and he doesn't want me near his ear but the packing will be removed next week and he has steri-strips behind his ear which will be taken off at the post op.My only complaint has to do with his school. Instead of receiving a get well card or a phone call from the teacher she was sure I received all the necessary homework and classwork that she wants him to complete before next Monday! I guess some people just can't imagine what this surgery must feel like and they don't try to understand and I find that pretty frustrating. I told him not to do anything he doesn't feel like doing and we will deal with classwork when he is feeling better.Good luck to all of you who are up for surgery in the near future-our thoughts are with you.>

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much for the replies. What made it that much harder about

what happened was

last year his teacher came to visit him and brought him water color

pictures from each of the students along with a nice note written

below, and then last February when he had an operation on Valentines Day

she videotaped all the kids wishing him a happy valentines day and best

wishes--and this year he gets more homework and I was told how the

school loses money when the student is out for more than a few days!

Anyway it is great to be part of such a compassionate group--it makes

all of you that much more special.

[Guest guest]

Hi Gus, Funny you asked...no she doesn't have kids!

The work he was given I'm sure wouldn't hurt and maybe in a couple of

days it might not feel so hard. I always notice that for the first week

after the surgery he seems pretty good physically but he always appears

to be just a bit slower and disoriented. The last thing he wants to do

right now is a bunch of multiplication word problems! To me it seems

like the packing in his ear really makes things disorienting, along with

the fact that he just had major surgery on his head! It also helps so

much to hear from the adults in the group who have given me a much

greater insight into how you feel after these surgeries. I feel like I

am a much better advocate for him knowing what he is probably going

through but doesn't always express it the way an adult can.

Thanks,

Gus wrote:

> I'm a teacher and this is ridiculous. When I have a chid who is sick or

> had surgery, I wait till they come back and make sure they are not

> wasting any time on busy work. If Zack has an assignment that you feel

> is busy work, meaning it contains concepts that he knows already, don't

> waste his time. The teacher really gave you a due date?? Hopefully,

> Zack doesn't feel pressure to get this done. How insensitive!!

>

>

>

> Take care of that guy and don't let the teacher get to you. She doesn't

> have a clue. Wondering...does she have kids?? All the best to Zack!!!

>

> * Re: Re:Zach's surgery

>

>

>

> Hi,

> Zach, my 8 year old son had his 4th surgery on Monday and it went as

> could as I could have possibly hoped. It was for reconstruction and it

> took less than two hours which is less than half the time it has

> previously taken. Even though the cholesteatoma removed last year was

> very large and wrapped around his facial nerve there was no sign of

> regrowth and the ear had healed beautifully and Dr. Roberson felt that

> he didn't need tubes in his right ear.

> His anesthesiologist was fantastic and he had very little pain and no

> nausea after the surgery (possibly because the surgery was not as long)

> although he slept for a couple hours after the operation was over which

> I think helped a lot also.

> He was given an elixer before surgery which helped him (and me!) a

> great

> deal as he was giggling and smiling as he was carted off to surgery.

> The worst part for him is always the bandage around his head and ear

> that he has to wear the first 24 hours--now that that is off he is much

> happier. He is having a tough time with the packing now though and he

> doesn't want me near his ear but the packing will be removed next week

> and he has steri-strips behind his ear which will be taken off at the

> post op.

> My only complaint has to do with his school. Instead of receiving a

> get

> well card or a phone call from the teacher she was sure I received all

> the necessary homework and classwork that she wants him to complete

> before next Monday! I guess some people just can't imagine what this

> surgery must feel like and they don't try to understand and I find that

> pretty frustrating. I told him not to do anything he doesn't feel like

> doing and we will deal with classwork when he is feeling better.

> Good luck to all of you who are up for surgery in the near future-our

> thoughts are with you.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> >

[Guest guest]

I understand how you feel about the deal with the school. My oldest daughter is in 6th grade (Middle School) and I had to make arrangements before her surgery date to pick up her work. A project was assigned while she was out, due the date she was scheduled to return and the teacher expected her to have it ready. You can imagine what I had to say about that. That was only one teacher though. The rest were very thoughtful and worked with us during her absent. At her school, they are not allowed to carry bookbags. So you know the drill post-op....no heavy lifting or straining. I had to get the ENT to personally call the school counselor to make arrangements so my daughter could return to school with a roll bookbag. These schools do not fully understand this condition and seriousness of it.

Re: Re:Zach's surgery

Hi,Zach, my 8 year old son had his 4th surgery on Monday and it went as could as I could have possibly hoped. It was for reconstruction and it took less than two hours which is less than half the time it has previously taken. Even though the cholesteatoma removed last year was very large and wrapped around his facial nerve there was no sign of regrowth and the ear had healed beautifully and Dr. Roberson felt that he didn't need tubes in his right ear.His anesthesiologist was fantastic and he had very little pain and no nausea after the surgery (possibly because the surgery was not as long) although he slept for a couple hours after the operation was over which I think helped a lot also.He was given an elixer before surgery which helped him (and me!) a great deal as he was giggling and smiling as he was carted off to surgery.The worst part for him is always the bandage around his head and ear that he has to wear the first 24 hours--now that that is off he is much happier. He is having a tough time with the packing now though and he doesn't want me near his ear but the packing will be removed next week and he has steri-strips behind his ear which will be taken off at the post op.My only complaint has to do with his school. Instead of receiving a get well card or a phone call from the teacher she was sure I received all the necessary homework and classwork that she wants him to complete before next Monday! I guess some people just can't imagine what this surgery must feel like and they don't try to understand and I find that pretty frustrating. I told him not to do anything he doesn't feel like doing and we will deal with classwork when he is feeling better.Good luck to all of you who are up for surgery in the near future-our thoughts are with you.>