Lorraine called Palmetto Richland Hospital today to see if they could tell us when Mikie had his major surgeries.  They had the dates but listed Weston as the doctor so it was unclear which was which, but our memory tells us that January 4-13, 1996 date must be the Jejunostomy and the October 19-30, 1995 date must be the Spinal Fusion.  We know he had the spinal fusion first and it was right after he finished school in 94 or 95. So, just for our records, the dates for his major surgeries were:

1973 - VP Shunt

1975 (maybe 76) – Kidney removal (nephrectomy) for a Wilms Tumor

1995 (October 19-30) – Spinal Fusion (Dr. Heavilon, Moore Orthopedic)

1996 (January 4-13) – Jejunostomy (Dr. Reddy)

2003 (December 4-22) – VP Shunt Revision (Dr. Burke Dial, Dr. Lynnwood Smith)

2005 (October 20 – November 17) VA Shunt Revision (Dr. Burke Dial, Dr. Lynnwood Smith)

Just prior to the kidney removal Mikie also had surgery on his feet to help in the correction of his club feet condition.  I think it had something to do with his heel cords.  Eventually we gave up, on the doctor’s advice, trying to correct his feet because it became obvious that Mikie would not walk because of his profound retardation. It is interesting that because of Mikie’s club feet his Wilms Tumor was discovered.  He was about to be released from the hospital after surgery on his feet when they noticed blood in his urine and decided to do more tests, and the rest is history. I remember them doing exploratory surgery and coming out to tell us that there were some spots on his kidney and they were waiting for the lab report but would likely close him back up and then decide how to treat it.  They didn’t come back for over an hour and when they did they had the news that the kidney was infected with a Wilms Tumor and they removed it and Mikie would have to undergo treatment for cancer.  Quite a shocker!

Very interesting reading about the Wilms Tumor at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001575.htm

One of the side effects or symptoms of a Wilms Tumor is an “increased growth on only one side of the body (hemihypertrophy)”.  I used to think that the reason Mikie has curvature of the spine was because the radiation therapy he received after having the kidney removed stunted that side of the body.  That was something I had read years ago about radiation and it seemed logical.  I don’t think anyone actually suggested it to me, and I don’t remember when we first noticed his curvature except that we were told we should get it corrected as much and as soon as possible or it would eventually cause respiratory problems.

I also looked up ‘Spinal Fusion’ at the same site and it reminded me of the drainage in the middle of his back that we attribute to a conflict of materials in Mikie’s rods and wires in his back.  Removal may be something we should seriously look at.  It might be possible to remove the rods and not insert new ones, since the back is certainly fused with bone and completely healed by now. We’re going to ask the NP Dee when we see her Thursday is this is something we should pursue.