1st surgery @ Boston

[admin]

My daughter is scheduled for her first surgery at Children's Hosp Boston w/Dr. Waters. Any info on experiences would be appreciated. (She is 9)

[Francine_Litz]

Hi Ann...

I have a section on my web site for parents who go to clinics around the nation... there is one site for a child that went to Dr. Waters. There is also contact info for the mom there...

http://www.injurednewborn.com/sarah/sarah.html

I know that Rich reported a great success from surgery with Dr. Waters, but I have to caution you to not compare children. Every child is different and outcomes are not always at the hand of a surgeon. (and that goes for any surgeon at any facility). No offense to anyone, I just think it's important to be honest about the reality of this injury.

good luck and hope things go really well,
francine

[admin]

Hi Ann:
My daughter (2 y.o.) is also scheduled for her first surgery with DR Waters in Boston for Jan 6th. He has been following her since she was 2 months old.
I can't talk about my surgery experience with you since we haven't been to that point yet, but I can tell you that I trust DR Waters with my daughter 110%. I am sure you feel the same way since you chose to have this done. When will her surgery be?
What surgery?
Best wishes!
Krista

[admin]

Her surgery is described as a muscle transfer, shoulder/arm. I'm a bit concerned because she has pretty good range of motion, never complained of pain or tenderness of any kind, she plays the piano, soccer, swims (although she took a while to swim). But she just has absolutely no supination, cannot touch hre face without assistance from her other hand, cannot touch the top or back of her head, and her elbow does stick out somewhat. Definately has pronation and a slightly winging shoulder blade. I just hope this surgery will give her a greater range of motion, help the shoulder blade and reduce the pronation. She is at an age now where more opportunities are opening up for her and from time to time the lack of mobility in her arm affects her choices. She is also starting to notice in photographs just how much she does posture her arm. I hope we'll be on our way to a better future for her after the surgery.

[Francine_Litz]

Ann - there's a really good article about supination in last year's Outreach for Awareness publication... if you haven't received it last year (meaning that you are not on the UBPN mailing list) contact nancy@ubpn.org and she'll get you a copy. Supination is so complicated - more than meets the eye. And it's one of the things it seems that's very hard for a lot of kids if not most kids.

[admin]

My daughter is also having the transfer. I am please with Ella's recovery/progree so far. I talked to DR Waters about what may happen after surgery regarding less ROM than what she has right now. He said it can only makes things better. He cannot say how much she will gain, but he did tell me that it will not take anything away from what she has now.
~Krista~

[admin]

spelling correction: ("I am pleased with Ella's recovery/progress so far."
oops =)