They don't look 77...

Happy Birthday Puppies

2 weeks post-op

The surgery finally happened March 18th. The cast came off to reveal a shriveled arm and a well healed incision about 5 inches long. 

The intial radial head fracture caused damage to the capitellum that was not visible in x-rays or in the MRI. The radius impacted the capitellum, which is essentially just cartilage. This resulted in a flat spot in the cartilage, possibly some bone fragments floating around, and lots of popping and grinding. After multiple rounds of cortisone injections and lots of pain during and after rides, my doctor and I decided it was time to go in and fix it.

My doctor performed a loose body removal and debridement. He also shaved the capitellum down a bit and drilled some dimples in the radial head to promote new cartilage growth. He said that there was significant arthritis in the area of the initial fracture, and a significant amount of fluid and scar tissue. He cleaned it all up and added a synthetic material made by the Gore-Tex company to replace the damaged and removed cartilage. 

....and we're back

So I think I'm going to document my rehab from elbow surgey here. Surgery is March 4th, 2009.