Lengthening Completed!

On Thursday, Aaron completed his lengthening process! It is amazing to think that this milestone has been reached. He was very happy and has chosen to celebrate this milestone by going to Chuck E Cheese. We will brave the crowds on Sunday and have some more video game fun.

On Wednesday we drove down to Children's for his check up. Dr. Snyder was very pleased with Aaron's progress. The x-rays look really good, the new bone looks like it is lining up, and his legs are the same length. His bone is already starting to ossify as seen on the x-ray by a white streak in the gap between his tibia halves. We forgot to get a copy of the x-ray, but we will post it here once we get a copy.

The next phase is a lot of waiting and watching. Aaron will keep the fixator on his leg while his bone ossifies. If the fixator is taken off too early, the bone will not be strong enough and could bend or break. Aaron's next appointment is in 8 weeks - January 21st. We are hoping that by this appointment, his new bone will show significant strength so that he can have the bottom part of his fixator removed. This will enable his foot and ankle to be free, and he will be able to walk with his foot touching the ground.

Then the next phase will be to wait and watch for the new bone strength to be 65% of his other leg, which is determined by calculating the various strengths (bending, torsional, ect) from bone density as measured by a CT scan. Then the fixator can be removed. He will still need to wear a brace to keep his knee and ankle in line and also to help support his leg. Eventually, the new bone should reach the strength of his normal bone in his right leg.

Aaron will need to continue to walk and work hard at PT. Continued weight bearing will help his bone harden and also help with his mobility. His knee is very tight and his muscles are very weak. Things overall are going very well! Thanks for your continued support and prayers.