New Cast (pictures!)

Mike got his splint off today! Wooo! It was quite a long appointment, but the PA was SUPERB, so I wasn't complaining. Pictures below are of the incision as soon as she took the splint off his arm.

Apparently it is an excellent incision that's healing well and shouldn't leave much of a scar. Praise God for such a wonderful surgeon. The next picture is of the new cast. She first showed Mike his options for colors...blue, red, yellow, green, pink, purple, black and white...no orange. Disappointment strikes. But he didn't give up, he asked the PA. Hmmm, she thinks she might have some in the back... What about maroon Mike asks? The PA is pretty much trying not to crack up laughing now... Uhhh, I don't think we have any maroon. Oh well, orange will do. Safety cone, hunting orange at that. (the nervous wife in me is super happy with that, noticeable, people won't bump into it, etc etc) She's almost done wrapping the orange and another assistant walks by. Lisa, our PA calls out, do we have any maroon casts? OF COURSE, for the virginia techies (her words not mine), I ordered some last week! Lisa tells us. Disappointment is wayyyyyyyyy gone.

Below is a picture of the xray. That odd shaped item in his arm is the prothesis (duh, I know). The long end is embedded down in the bone and the funny shaped part is what has actually replaced the bone they removed. It is made of stainless steel. Marcus started calling him Bionic Hokie and with this cast, I'd say that's pretty appropriate.

The best news is that the pathology report is already back and showed that it is a giant cell tumor. The treatment is removal. So treatment is done! There are recurrences with this type of tumor, but the chances is decreased greatly when the affected bone is completely removed (we had the other option of 'scraping' the bone to remove just the affected portion). So after four weeks of this cast, he gets a removable splint and starts therapy. Not sure how long therapy will take, but once that is finished he will be back to steel arm normal!

This is really fantastic news. Thanks to everyone who prayed, called, sent cards, cooked dinner and sent good thoughts and vibes Michael's way. God is an amazing Father and we are so grateful for His work in all this!