Hand Surgery #3

We leave tomorrow for Boston for Jake to have his thumbs straightened.  We started to travel to Boston for Dr. Upton when a local surgeon had first indicated Jake would only have 4 fingers on each hand.   Dr. Upton performed his surgical magic and Jake has 5 fingers on each so we felt it important to maintain the surgical consistency.  Jake faces 2 surgeries separated by 1 month with the end goal to straighten and lengthen the thumb for added function.  Medically, I am told it is an Osteotomy; phlanx of each finger and an application of a multiplane.  This first surgery will install a device into Jake's right hand to help space out and prep the hand for the second step in a month which will add a pin or bone graft to help lengthen the finger once it is straightened.   In all, there will be 4 procedures on both hands between this spring and next fall.   Jake is already a veteran of surgical procedures as most apert children and their families experience.  This will mark his 8th surgical procedure in almost five years of his young life.  These trips are always hard as we have to leave the Luke and Olivia home with loved ones but keeping them on their normal routine is important while we accompany Jake on his continued path.    Jake's surgery will take place Wednesday afternoon and we will update the blog so everyone can be informed of his progress.  We are thankful to all of our friends and family who are lending a hand to allow us to leave town and ensure the best for Jake.

Tubes Part 3

Well before we get to the more important surgery in a couple weeks for Jake's right hand, we now have to get Jake's tubes reinserted this Friday as they fell out. Unfortunately, it will mean 3 times Jake will have to go under in about 6 weeks but his ear Dr. didn't think Jake would be able to fly to Boston and deal with the pain if we didn't quickly get this done. Always a new wrinkle but at least we are used to dealing with the unexpected by now. We will keep you posted to how this procedure goes and then will keep the daily log of the Boston trips that begin in a couple week.

Tubes Part 2

Tomorrow Jakey goes in for a second round of tubes to be inserted into his ears. His last pair ran their course and in his case he does need another pair. At his last craniofacial annual appointment, Jake did demonstrate some partial issues with hearing out of one of his ears. Everyone believes it to be the out of position tube that also allowed excessive fluid in the canal to build up. The goal after a few appts and some antibiotics is to put the tubes back in both ears and to prevent against infections and then reassess his hearing to make sure it was just the out of place tube causing the issue. Never like to have Jake go under but this is a relatively routine procedure so once again think good thoughts for Jake and we hope the new pair continues to work as well as the previous set.

Eyes

Well six weeks later we got the news that we were waiting for. The Now or Never 50% chance of working eye surgery has been deemed a success. Jake now has both eyes working together rather than independently. We are very excited for him and another great victory for Team Jake.

Eye update

Jake his first post-op and so far so good. The dr said it looks perfect and his eyes look great and for now his eyes are working together. He did caution that sometimes it doesn't stick so well have to wait and see. 6 weeks till we know but we are pleased with the update and hope for the best. Jake has been a real trooper and made it easier on us by once again not letting pain or surgeries get in the way of his happy-go-lucky attitude.