PHENOMENAL!

After a brief rough patch, Emma is doing remarkably well!  We are stunned at how soon the pain subsided.  Emma is getting around well on her crutches and is becoming more agile with her cast she says is as heavy as a cinder block.  She couldn’t be better at this point and are overwhelmed with gratitude.

So what did they do and what’s the prognosis?  There is an incision down the front of Emma’s foot where they went in and removed (with an electric saw, as Emma likes to emphasize!) the bone tumor on her talus.  The surgeon told us that while they were in there they saw how the tumor obstructed the ankle joint from moving.  He said once the tumor was removed, they were able to freely move the joint. He felt confident that they got it all, which is important because these tumors can grow back.

There is another incision down the outer back-side of Emma’s foot where they went in to remove some “loose bodies.”  Dr. Gebhardt said these tumors may be synovial chondromatosis and may recur.  Emma will have x-rays and MRIs to keep an eye out. 

They are confident that all the tumors are benign, but as you can imagine, it will be a relief when we get the biopsy results in the next week or so.

We will be back at Children’s on the 20^th for her first follow-up.  Since she is doing so well, we are hopeful that the recovery process will move along much faster than anticipated.  I don’t doubt that all the love directed her way has powered her through.