Back to the Begining

The story of "lefty" began in June 2000. (Savy was 4 1/2 years old.) Savy was in a car being driven by her father, with her brother and sister in the backseat. There is much "debate" over whether or not she was in a car seat, as the law requires. Anyhoo, her dad ends up crashing into a Suburban while driving 40 mph. Savannah fell to the floor of the car, with her neck hitting the floorboard.

My first thought when I saw her was "Oh thank GOD she is okay." We took her to the closest ER, who then transported her by ambulance to a childrens' hosptial. We learned she had bruised her heart, badly, and now had a heart mumur. As far as her arm went, we were told she may have a broken collar bone. (Jeez! I WISH that was all it was) We spent three days in intensive care, prayin', prayin', prayin'. Her little arm wouldn't move a bit

The best local neurosurgeon told us she had a brachial plexus injury, but that within three months, she would get all movement back. Yeah, right.

So we loaded her up and took her to Dr. Nath in Houston. She had the first of a couple of surgeries there. She also headed north to Montreal Canada for a surgery that involved placing two muscle simulators in her back that had electrodes that ran down her arm, providing stimulus to the muscle every 4 seconds. Unfortunately, she got an infection four months later and they had to be removed.

So, long story short, years and years go by, and now she is 13 years old. She is absolutely beautiful, smart and talented. As far as her arm, well, she can bend the elbow to enable her to sandwich items she is carrying between the arm and body, but that is about it. Lefty is also about 2 1/2 inches shorter than her right arm. That's what brought us to Dr. Gugenheim in Houston Texas.


WE CAN REBUILD HER. WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.

Bone lengthening is not really bone lengthening so much as it is bone growing. Here is how it works:

The bone (in Savy's case, her right humerus) is surgically broken into two segments, and the Ilizarov fiaxator "Lizzy" is put in place. Then the two ends of the bone are gradually moved apart slowly enough so that new bone can form (or grow) in the gap. At the same time, all the soft tissues and stuff surrounding the bone expands too. The result is a longer arm (or leg, or toe, or middle finger)

This is all done using an external fixator to create tension stress. This Russian dude named Gavril Ilizarov came up with this technique, so they named the fixator after him.

This is obviously a leg, not an arm, but the process is the same. We will be turning three knobs three times a day, which is what will pull the bone apart. The fixator will be attached to her arm by three rods attached to the top of the arm and three pins that go straight through the bottom of the bone, right above the elbow. Ouch.


Here is a picture of a different kind of fixator. We didn't choose this one because the ilizarov is much more gentle that this monolateral fixator:






One of the biggest elements of the process will be pin site care. The most common complication of limb lengthening is pin site infections. We will have to clean the sites very carefully everyday in order not to get infections. If she does get an infection, she will have to take antibiotics (and you know how I feel about those, don't you Dena?) If the infection gets bad, and travels to the bone, it will be time to get serious.



Along with all of these worries, we have to go to Houston every two weeks for check ups and x-rays. This will be for the first two and a half months during the "lengthening phase." More on that later. This is enough to make your mind spin or your stomach to vomit, so now I will leave you with a picture of.......

P.J. after a pedicure!