Follow-up from Dallas Surgeon ....

Warning: Long blog entry

Good Evening ….. first I want to say a big thank-you to the many of you that prayed today. Thank you for continuing to read the blog, your kind e-mail messages, and most of all for lifting up my foot situation in prayer. I barely understand what is happening with my foot & yet I am continually in awe that anyone else would attempt to understand our recent set-back. Thank you for continuing to walk through this journey with us … it means a lot. I was reminded yesterday that often God does His greatest work when all else has failed and I’m trusting that is what we are seeing now.

I am also very grateful for having a staff of 8 part-time individuals that I can leave in charge of a visit day at work & not have any worries that all will go on as usual with 120 kids, 4 teachers & 25 parents. It is a lot of responsibility. They are all moms with busy lives, but they are a great team and are always flexible if I need someone to change working days, stay late, or do whatever is needed.

Today has been a busy and productive day. I could not fall asleep for anything last night, so I resorted to a sleeping pill at 11:30pm. I was thinking about too much and could not relax. It was a short night when the alarm went off at 4:45am. When I arrived at the airport this morning, there were easily 350 people in line waiting to get through security. People were leaving early for Spring Break. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get through the line in time for my flight, but thankfully it moved along. Then I got stopped at the metal detector for my artificial hip – more time ….. & the yogurt for breakfast that I threw in my purse caused a stir for concern. My gate was right across from the security area, so I walked right onto the plane and I was the last one to board. Just a tad bit stressful!

I made it to the doctor’s office on time & one of my mom’s friends (from high school) met me in the waiting area. We asked her to come along for another set of “ears.” We met with Dr. C for a long time and all things considered, it went about as well as I expected or could have hoped. This is the deal …

The tendon has contracted again and it is essentially “stuck” inside & it cannot do its job. It needs to be “released” and we need to try again. The incision area that is starting to come open is at the bend area where the foot meets the ankle. It gets a great amount of stress and pressure and when I started walking more, this came open (not a lot, but a little). The open incision section, tightness at the ankle and the toes remaining fixed off the ground are all related. We are basically back to the same situation as in November. The tendon is capable of working because it worked well for 2 ½ months. It can do the job of relaxing and contracting, but since it is “stuck” now it cannot work. We don’t need to lengthen a lot more – just get it back to where it was before. I have lost a LOT of ROM, but that can improve eventually.

He was super impressed at how well the foot did function when it was doing well. If we were not on the “right track” w/this, he said we likely would not have seen it work from the beginning. The strength in the foot is good, but he agreed that it is not possible to live w/it the way it is now. I will have more hip issues w/time if we do not work toward improving things. Pain all comes from the fact that the tendon tries to work, but it cannot & then the walking on the heel only is added stress.

Why did it happen? – No one really knows …. Impingement, scar tissue, tendon is somehow “trapped” - it is all a guess. Increased usage may have been a factor, but he agreed that he would have walked on it a lot also, especially if there was no pain. He has not seen this happen to anyone else & advised that I probably won’t find anyone else that has had it w/everything else that has previously occurred; nothing about this is normal, so you really can’t compare it to anything. He stated again that it is a soft tissue surgery (easier than bone) and it is a relatively short recovery period, so he confidently thought it was worth doing it again with some minor changes. He knows I want this to end – no question there. It was very obvious that we need to try again and have faith that it will work. He will talk w/my STL dr. to coordinate specific and strategic follow-up care. The “foot drop” possibility is still a risk, but everything has risk (there are a few things that you can do for it, if it happens). There is risk in doing nothing, too.

He thanked me for the nice thank-you note that I sent him several weeks ago & admitted that he was shocked when I called his PA to say that things were not good. As he left the room, he said to skip writing the note the next time & he will assume that no thank-you means all is well! I laughed and said that this might be the one time that it will be okay NOT to write a thank-you note.

The Plan:

- Re-do the tendon lengthening surgery on March 26th; in Dallas.

- Clean out & repair the incision section that is open.

- Cast a little differently this time.

- Change cast more often & keep close watch on the incision.

- Possibly take an anti-spacisity medication as a preventive measure.

- Play everything very cautiously this time w/movement & exercise, pt when the cast comes off.

- 4 weeks in a weight-bearing hard cast; follow up can happen in STL.

Knowing that I was in pain, he offered to do the surgery tomorrow but I was not prepared to do that. I need a little time to get organized at work and home. It is a bummer that another surgery & cast needs to happen, but I am okay with this. We are moving in the right direction. The friend that was with me agreed that he is a very good doctor and she was impressed with his explanation and patience today.

I met another friend & her daughter for lunch and we had a nice visit together. I then drove to my favorite jewelry place in Dallas (Sam Moons) and spent an hour shopping there (good mental break), before heading to the airport. It was a cold, gloomy, and rainy day in Dallas today, but despite all of this I boarded the plane to come home feeling really good about getting a plan in place.

Eickhort’s are not known for quitting and this is no exception …. My prayer this morning was to simply know without a doubt what we were supposed to do next and this happened today …. despite it all I am grateful and hopeful that there will be a warm summer day when I’ll be walking well again .... only God knows the exact date, but it will happen.

Thanks again for praying, your phone calls, and for caring.

Love & hugs,

Jenny