Bilateral VDRO and Removal

Wolfsons Children's Hospital

Jacksonville, FL

September 2003 - January 2005 - February 2006 - February 2011

Kellisa was a little beyond her 4^th birthday when she had her 13^th surgery. Heading into her first surgery on her hips, Kellisa already had seven brain (including two for an infected shunt), one heart, two eye and two G-Tube surgeries. The Bilateral VDRO surgery would be by far the worst of all her surgeries.

The surgery was on both her hips because they became dislocated from to her inability to stand and walk, due to her cerebral palsy. Kellisa couldn’t describe with words the pain she was living with leading up to the surgery and I can’t even imagine. And all the while she kept her cheerful personality.

Even though I watched nurses and anesthesiologists wheel Kellisa away for surgery twelve previous times, it’s never easy. If anything, it gets harder each time because you realize the risks more and since Kellisa knows what’s going on, her face expression breaks my heart as I let them take her.

During this surgery, the doctor cut both of Kellisa’s leg bones to fit back into the hip joint, inserted hardware to help keep the hips in place and while they had her open, injected Botox into the hamstrings and abductors to help with flexibility.

After shunt surgery, even though they drill a hole through her brain for a drainage pipe, Kellisa is usually back to herself within a couple of days. After this surgery, Kellisa would suffer for weeks with sharp pains and spasms that only increased the already high levels of pain. When we brought Kellisa home, she was on a significant dose of pain medication and it wasn’t enough. Without words, Kellisa’s constant moans and cries for help more than expressed her discomfort.

In addition, Kellisa was unable to get a good night of sleep. Kellisa would lay on a foam mattress in front of the television in the living room day and night. We would leave the television on all night for Kellisa, with Lisa and me taking turns sleeping and comforting Kellisa through the long nights. This was our routine for about four weeks before the pain started to reside.

Besides relieving Kellisa’s constant pain, another monumental blessing would emerge from this taxing surgery. Kellisa needed a rental wheelchair to elevate her legs. This chair also had wheels that Kellisa could wheel herself, a first for Kellisa. Until this time, we never pictured Kellisa wheeling herself, but she took to the wheels almost immediately. The wheelchair was too big for Kellisa and she could only reach one wheel at a time, but for the first time she was able to propel herself…and she loved it!

If you use only one wheel, you will just go in circles. Kellisa quickly learned this lesson and would lean her body from one extreme side to the other to keep her going where she wanted to go. Kellisa now had some independence. Shortly after returning the rental chair, Kellisa would be the proud owner of a new wheelchair that she could self propel. Our furniture and paint on the walls have never been the same since.

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In January of 2005, the doctors removed (15^th surgery) the hardware from Kellisa's hips and injected Botox into her hamstrings and abductors. Again, the recovering process was repeated as above- four weeks of constant pain and suffering on the living room floor.

Because Kellisa still couldn’t stand and bear weight, her hips became dislocated again and the Bilateral VDRO surgery (19^th overall) was repeated in January 2006 with a similar recovery period as above.

Kellisa lived with the hardware until constant pain required their removal in February 2011, her 20^th surgery. The doctor also performed tenotomies on both legs which resulted in Kellisa needing double leg casts for six weeks.

A rare photo without a smile on Kellisa's face

The heavy casts made the six week recovery process even harder because it was almost impossible to move Kellisa, making everyday tasks extremely painful for Kellisa. To make matters worse for Kellisa, she was stuck in a recliner chair in front of the television for the entire six weeks because she was too big and the casts made it impossible to have her on the floor. And Kellisa got kicked while she was down by getting a significant bed sore just days before the casts were removed. We had to deal and treat this unpleasantry for several additional weeks.

6 weeks of hell for Kellisa and I can't tell you how many times we rearranged the pillows without much success to try and find a better position for Kellisa

Even though it’s been a couple of years, Kellisa still refuses to sit in the recliner and I moved it out of the living room to remove the constant reminder for Kellisa of those dreaded six weeks.