Rivers In Surgery

Rivers is in surgery now. They probably got started at about 12:00 rather than 11:00. In the picture above, I am walking her back to the OR. She was really woozy from the Versed. When I lay her on the operating table, she started to crack up laughing! She wasn't too keen on breathing in the "bubble gum gas," but she wasn't as resistant as she has been before. I stayed beside her until she fell asleep.

Once again, we continue to be pleased with Dr. Kasser's and Dr. Kim's approach to Rivers' case. In reading the CT scan from Tuesday, Dr. Kasser saw that although Rivers' hip is still in place, the femur is rotated forward. I have noticed Rivers hip protruding a little when changing her, and I had started to get a little concerned that it had come out again. With this in mind, Dr. Kasser will cut her femur bone and rotate it 45 degrees forward, although it is out to the side a full 90 degrees due to her previous surgery. I have been concerned about the possibility of them over-correcting the femur when she has not had any physical therapy to allow her to move her leg forward rather than to the side. Also, she is still wearing her brace 15 hours a day, which puts her in a frog position. All this to say, I think that they have a good idea of what they want to do.

Here, Rivers is picking out the color for her cast, which, as you can see, will be PINK! Daniel was carrying Rivers on the way to the hospital this morning, and she turned to him and said,"I'm going to have surgery on my hip today, aren't I?" It just made my heart sink. We've been having conversations with her about,"If Dr. Kasser thinks he can help you walk and run better, would you want him to do surgery on your knee?" Her answer this morning was,"Yes." She was timid and wary of all of the nurses and doctors who came in to talk to her. She kept saying,"Let's go back to our hotel." Poor thing! I just hated it for her! She had a great attitude, though, and just got a little bit teary. I know that she will be so grateful when she looks back on this one day!