Left Hand

Tomorrow, Jake will undergo his 10th overall procedure and this time it marks the straightening of the left thumb and improve upon the web spaces between his fingers.  Until fixed, the thumbs of Apert Children grow incorrectly outward at the knuckle and need to be corrected.  This procedure also marks the first time we are staying in Los Angeles for a hand surgery as we have transitioned to Dr. Andre Panossian at CHLA to handle the procedure.  Dr. Panossian used to work under Dr. Upton in Boston and has always handled Jake's aftercare following his other hand surgeries.   We now feel confident moving forward with any future procedures here in Los Angeles which is quite the relief to eliminate the travel to Boston factor and logistics with the family.   Jake's biggest concern has been the distractor which was the device we used last time in a two surgery process to create space and ultimately lengthen the right thumb.  For his non-dominant hand, we made the decision to forgo this step and if ever needed we could revisit at a later point.   We feel confident he has gained the function he needs in his right hand and it isn't as imperative for his non-dominant hand or worth the pain Jake had to endure last time around.    We hope to be the first surgery on the schedule and we should have an operating time confirmed today but it should be an early start around 5am arrival at the hospital.
Keep Jake in your thoughts as he continues on his journey.  We will update the blog late tomorrow evening.