Back in November, we met with Scott's hand doctor, Dr. Douglas Hutchinson. Dr. Hutchinson has been with us almost from the beginning of this whole ordeal. He is pretty awesome. We've been meeting with him for eight or nine years, and for three or four surgeries. When we've met with him, his approach has been to offer us ideas and suggestions of things we could do to increase the mobility in Scott's hand, or fix the scar, or help it grow properly. We've heard him say, several times, "Will it work? I don't know." He'd then ask if he would do it on his own child, and most often he'd tell us, "Probably not. I'd wait and see."
While that might seem frustrating (and I admit, it has been at times), we've really appreciate his candor and honesty. He's not doing this just to make money. He genuinely cares about Scott and the outcome of the surgeries. He's been disappointed when the surgeries haven't worked, and stoked when there is improvement. These and other reasons are what keep us coming back to him year after year.
So, anyway, after canceling a surgery a few years ago (in which Scottie was sorely disappointed in us) we decided that it was finally time to do some surgery to straighten his middle finger. Concerning his middle finger: the left side of his growth plate on the left side of the finger where it connects to the hand (got that?) was completely killed during the accident. The right side of the growth plate on the right side of the finger where it connects to the hand, was still functioning. So, the right side of his finger was growing, while the left side was not. So, over the years, it has grown crooked. Time to fix that.
At our appointment with Dr. Hutchinson, he said that what he wanted to do, was open up Scott's middle finger, and break/cut a chunk of bone out of the right side of that finger. Then, he would take a bone graft from Scott's hip and put that into the left side of his finger to straighten it up. While he was in there, he would take out the remaining growth plate so that the joint that connects the finger to the hand would stop growing. (The other growth plates in that finger are just fine, and will continue to grow until he's fully grown). He would also (more than likely) take a skin graft from the same area in his hip, cut the skin between the pointer and middle finger and put the graft in there to him more room to spread his fingers apart.
*Phew* That's a big explanation. :)
So, we planned it for February 6, 2013. Scott kept telling us that we should have planned it for after his birthday, but with me being pregnant, and not knowing what would happen after his surgery (as far as additional check-ups, physical therapy, etc . . .), we decided to do it earlier.
(Side note: for our kids 12th birthdays, we've planned to take them to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Scott's been looking forward to doing that, but in January, Brandon & I realized that we wouldn't be able to take him for his birthday because he would have a cast on his hand. We called to see if we could reschedule his appointment, but were told the soonest they could now get us in if we rescheduled was the middle of April. Not an option for me being 8 months pregnant.)
The 6th came, Scottie was able to drink/eat clear liquids (like Sprite, apple juice, jello . . .) until 10:45 that morning. We had to be at the hospital at 12:15, with his surgery slot at 1:45. We got down there, got all checked in, and sat down to play until it was his turn to go back.
Playing with Dad's iPad on the way down
After playing the Nintendo for a bit, he took apart the railroad, and proceeded to make his own. Although, he was quite disappointed that the hospital didn't have more small curvy pieces.
And then the dr. came in. He looked horrible. He apologized to us
several times, but said that he wouldn't be operating on Scott that
day. He was very sick, and refused to do such an intricate surgery when
he felt like he did. He was worried that he'd get halfway into it and
have to have someone else take over. He said he'd only do his best, and
his best wasn't that day. He said he'd tried to call us, but we had
already left, and when he went to the pre-registration desk to get our
cell number, they didn't have it.
So, he apologized again, then left us to go home and get some rest. We headed upstairs to his office to reschedule. He had told us that he would bump someone for any day that we wanted to do the surgery, and to just get it scheduled. So, we rescheduled for March 6, 2013, took Scott out to lunch, and headed home.
It wasn't until several days later that I realized that we would now be able to take him to do baptisms!! One of the Lord's tender mercies for us. We've been planning on doing this for so long, and were disappointed when we realized it wouldn't happen until several weeks after his birthday. The Lord knew, and helped us be able to do this with Scott. The 6th of March was also one of the original days that was offered to us - and that Scott wanted us to take. Prayers have been answered all around for us, and we're so grateful! Now, we're just looking forward two and a half more weeks until the real surgery can take place!
