My grandson is schedualed to go into surgury in a week or so, to have a monolateral fixator attached to his arms in order to stretch the tendons, to prepare for a rod to be placed inside, so that his hands will be straight. My opinion, is that they are jumping into this too quickly.. The doctors are saying that because the child is two, he wont remember the pain and that he will bounce back quickly..Sure it will be uncomfortable, but he will get use to this thing being on both arms....Somebody help me here!!!! Is this not going to cause pain? do two years old really not remember the pain???
What questions should my son be asking the doctors. They are all saying this is a breeze of a surgury... according to the paperwork they sent, these things will be on his arm for anywhere from a month, up to a year.. Give me some pros and cons here folks... Give me some reasons why he should not have this surgury at this age. and let me explain, grandson can use his hands, not his thumb as much, but working on that... he can eat, he can color, he can pick a penny up off the floor. The only thing I have seen that he cant do, at this point, is reach his butt to wipe it when he gets potty trained. And besides that, this surgury isnt for bone lengthening, its to straighten the hand... Questions, opinions, help...something.... if you had a child with this, would you do the surgury.... and for you new folks, I have pictures of grandson already posted... search my threads for Tar syndrome.. Thanks for the help
__________________ God is and all is well
~John Greenleaf Whittier~
I am really unsure on this one because I do not know the procedure nor its rate of effectiveness but I will venture this...
First of all the child will experience pain if it is painful. Being young does not disqualify you from pain. Will he remember it? Surely as much as anyone else remembers pain. Will he tolerate it well? Children often have a capacity to tolerate and endure pain that is superior to adults, in my opinion, as a pediatric nurse for so long. It is not that they have less pain, but they often do not approach things with as much fear or trepidation that overshadows their experience.
Is he going to a Shriner's Hospital?
They have gotten very good at some of these corrective procedures over the last 10 years or so.. Sometimes doing these procedures when young provides a better outcome than when older, as the body will continue to grow minus the alignment difficulties in the joint. I would think that for the childs psychological welfare being able to wipe his own butt will be priceless by the age of 5.
I have a friend who has a leg that was shorter than the other, significantly shorter. It was a real problem. The family decided to have the longer leg shortened to match.
Today he has just become a physician in orthopedics....so you never know how things are perceived or processed by the mind in a child.
__________________ "The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, - receptive to Truth and Love" Mary Baker Eddy
Visit www.HealthSalon.org
.. Questions, opinions, help...something.... if you had a child with this, would you do the surgury.... and for you new folks, I have pictures of grandson already posted... search my threads for Tar syndrome.. Thanks for the help
Just me, I don't blame you for being upset. Of course it will cause the baby pain, but sometimes it's worth the surgery to correct the condition. I know nothing about Tar Syndrome or the surgery, but if I come across anything that may help, I'll post it. Had trouble finding the thread with search, so I posted the link for others.
Thanks everyone for the info... We are all on new ground also... Tar syndrome doesnt happen very often, so its not like there is a wealth of information out there... I discovered the album section, so have posted three pictures in an album.. After the surguries and he comes home, i will post more... These pictures are from aug 09. He has done a bit of growing since then, but not much.
So after much discussion, mom and dad have decided to do one arm at a time... Taking into consideration that doing both arms, would hinder learning, eating, playing, walkng, and just being a normal kid... Things will be rough with one arm, but doable... doing both, they have decided, might be too much for not only grandson, but them and grandmom too. And that way, also, if they deem that the surgury is not worthwhile and wont really help him in the long run, then they dont have to do the other arm..... Will keep you updated as best I can, I think its gonna be a long couple of months
__________________ God is and all is well
~John Greenleaf Whittier~
Justme, your Grandson is very cute! I wish the best for him. Doing one arm at a time seems like a good plan. Let us know how he's doing, and you take care yourself too. Positive thoughts being sent your way...
__________________
"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~
I would not trust the doctors who say surgeries are a piece of cake. Doctors can and do make mistakes. Also hospitals are not a safe place to be. He is almost guaranteed to acquire an infection like staph and it will be extremely hard to get rid of.
I sent the boy some energy. He will probably not need the surgery now.
What questions to ask??
Linear Mode
