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Monday, May 22, 2017

Three Years & Time to Come Out!

Wow!  It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since CJ had his bar put in!  A lot has changed in 3 years:  CJ has grown to 5'10" and become quite an amazing & active young man.  He's driving, has a job, and just finished his sophomore year of high school.
 
He's gained a lot of weight, too.  Many children with PE tend to be below average in their weight.  This was the case with CJ.  He was always very thin, but his weight is now in the average range.  Whenever he had growth spurts, he would have twinges in the bar area, but it was never really bad or long lasting. 
 
Last week, we went to the surgeon for CJ's 3-year follow-up.  The x-ray showed everything was perfect, and the doctor OK'd scheduling the bar removal!  They asked when we'd like to schedule it, and we joked that having it done that afternoon would be great!  They weren't quite ready for that, so in two weeks, we'll check in for the procedure. 
 
Believe it or not, the removal of the bar is an outpatient procedure!  The surgeon will make incisions on both sides of the bar (probably where the scars already are), remove the stabilizer that helped hold the bar in place, straighten the bar slightly, and pull it out!  It should be a fairly quick procedure, and we'll be able to take CJ home after spending some time in recovery.  The doc also said he should be able to be back to normal activities within a couple of days!  That's just amazing to me.  Pain management shouldn't be an issue, either.
 
As with any procedure, there are some risks.  The bar could cause some damage to the heart or lungs, but those are very rare complications.  And of course, there is the risk of infection (we know all about that one!), but the doctor said that having a foreign body put INTO you poses a greater risk of infection than one coming OUT.  :)  We are trusting and praying that we have no complications this time around!
 
I will post again on surgery day.