Andrew's having surgery...

We've been updating our family blog and thought we should also post here since a lot of you follow Andrew's blog rather than our family blog. As we posted on our family blog a few weeks ago, we mentioned Andrew's Surgery coming up. I am providing a link to the description of the surgery Andrew will be having.  CLICK HERE
It explains the procedure but Andrew will be having this surgery at St. Louis Children's Hospital. The same hospital where he had his Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR). His neurosurgeon there is who referred us to the Orthopedic doctor who will be doing this surgery too.
Andrew will be having a Selective Percutaneous Myofascial Lengthening, (SPML). The reason for this is that even though he had SDR when he was 3, Andrew still continues to have tight tendons in his legs. Mostly the left. He walks on his toes and tends to fall a lot more lately as well as using a crouched gait because his tendons are so tight. We've had him wearing AFO braces on his legs and have increased his PT and it does not seem to be helping at this time. Even though the spasticity was eliminated with the SDR, children with Cerebral Palsy still have tightness which only stretching and surgery can help. It was inevitable that he would need this lengthening surgery but since Andrew recovered and did so well after his SDR that we were hopeful to one of the few who's child would not need the lengthening surgery.
We will be leaving next Tuesday for St. Louis and hope to have an easy flight without delays or problems. He will be seeing Dr. Park the next day after we arrive for a follow-up Neurosurgery visit as well as Physical Therapy, assessments, xrays and whatever other tests he'll need pre-op. We then meet with Dr. Dobbs for his Orthopedic Surgery appointment. They will explain the procedure in detail and let us know what to expect during and after surgery. Andrew's surgery is scheduled for the following day on the 30th. He'll be staying in the hospital and we hope all goes well and we should be able to leave by Friday.
Our anxiety levels are rising as the date is near, but Andrew is hopeful that this will give him a chance at a better life. One where he won't have to use the leg braces anymore. One where he won't have as much PT. He really wants to play basketball and wants to try wrestling, so he's hoping this will give him that chance. As parents we always want the best for our children and right now, we feel like this is the best we can do for now. We can at least try to provide him with the chance to be like the other 7 year old boys.
We'll keep you all updated on his progress. We'll also be getting ready to post before and after video and pictures which will also be on our Familiy blog too. We'll post links and updates as soon as we have anything.
Thank you all for your support.