Ok so here are the pictures that I promised. The first two are of the brace that she will have to wear for the next six weeks....The next two were taken minutes before she and Carter (the bear she has had since birth) went back to surgery and the last one is of the scar on the back of her shoulder. She also has two small scars on the front but I couldn't get a clear picture.
A little background here....when my daughter was born she was 9 1/2 lbs., much bigger than was expected, and it ended up being a very difficult birth. She essentially got "stuck" and in order for her to be delivered they had to use every available tool to get her out. This resulted in her right shoulder being dislocated and all of the nerves and mucsles on the right side of her neck, torso and arm to be stretched and torn. She was completely unable to move her head to the right and had no movementin her right arm until she was about 6 months old and then it was very minimal. It remained that way for the last 12 years and it took that long for me to convince the doctor's that my daughter's condition was not going to "fix itself" as they kept telling me it would.
So for 12 years her shoulder has been dislocted. When they finally did ex-rays and found this they said she needed the surgery she had on the 22nd to repair it. The had to carve out her shoulder socket because bone had grown into it to the arm bone could not go into the socket. They also had to lengthen muscles and nerves in the back of her shouler and shorten ones in the front. They now say that she should have 80-90% mobility.
She is doing much better now....down to only a few pain pills a day. A new problem has developed though....we now have to deal with bed sores that are developing under her brace....I am going to call the doctor today and see if we can take the brace off long enough to put a shirt on underneath the brace to help prevent them.
A big thanks to everyone for their support and thoughts.
~Darlin~
