Another Surgery Update

Over the course of the last several weeks of visits to the wound clinic to manage the integra on her foot, Mother has been awaiting, admittedly with some trepidation, the outcome of the surgery she finally underwent yesterday morning.  Initially scheduled for 10:30, it was moved back to 7:30, which meant getting up at 4:30 to arrive for check in at 5:30!  Whew!  Not our usual morning routine, to be sure.  Megan once again accompanied me, as she has been so faithfully and willingly doing since back in April when this all began.  What would I do without my girl by my side, helping with the wheelchair, and keeping me company during the long waits!!

The goal for this surgery was to remove the silicone integra covering, determine if there was sufficient viable tissue to do a skin graft, and best-case scenario – perform the skin graft on the foot.  What we did not know, however, was whether the integra covering these last five weeks would encourage enough new tissue to grow over the top of the tendons, which were left exposed by the previous foot surgery.  So, going into yesterday’s surgery we were left wondering what the outcome would be.

Well, it turned out that when the doc removed the integra covering, only 30% of the tendons were covered by new tissue growth.  This was not enough, and the doc decided that the tendons would have to be removed if there was going to be a chance for an eventual skin graft.  So, remove the tendons he did.  He had mentioned this possibility before the surgery, and that he hoped he could still do the skin graft over the tissue below the tendons.  However, after looking it over he decided that the best chance for the skin graft to take would be to put another integra covering over the foot and allow a bit more tissue to grow over the next month.

We are now praying and hoping for good tissue development in the coming days and weeks, leading ultimately to a successful skin graft, and the eventual rehabilitation of her foot to some limited use. The doctor has given us a 50-60% likelihood of reaching this positive outcome.

We know, however, that should this round of integra fail to produce sufficient tissue to sustain a skin graft, mother will very likely be looking at an amputation.  This is not the happiest news in the world, and it’s a bit of a curve ball, to be sure.  We are praying for grace and peace, and working on counting our blessings, day by day, knowing that God’s plans, however mysterious, are always good, and ultimately for our good.