Rib Graft Surgery

Dear Diary,

I've decided to write in detail about 3 Major surgeries I've had in my life. The first one I will tell you about is my Rib Graft.

I had my rib graft surgery when I was around 5 or so years old. I remember flying often down to Dallas Texas to visit the plastic surgeon there called Dr. Monroe. The hospital was quite large, or at least that how I remember it. I know that when you are younger your sense of proportion is different. I remember playing with toys in a large open space. One of these toys was a large merry go round that had stationary animals you could climb onto and off of. Another was a killer whale that was partly "submerged" under the floor. I was too small to sit on the whale's head, so I wasted a lot of time trying to get on top of him. I remember another little boy grabbed my hands and pulled me up on top once. I was happy.

And the hotel we stayed in, in dallas was several stories high. Maybe 13 and the management there decided to make me a special name tag like they gave to their employees. On it it said my name and beneath that was inscribed "Special Guest"...which I didnt understand the meaning of at that time, but I was happy to have a nametag like all the other employees. I still have the nametag, I put it in my "treasure box" which sits on my nightstand in my room to this day.

I remember my mom and I used to go regularly to this italian restaurant when we would stay in Texas. And every time we would be served by this waiter named Scott. I liked Scott a lot, he would always bring me crayons and little plastic swords (you know, the kind they would stick in drinks), to play with while my mom ate. Before he quit his job, he gave me his nametag. I was sad when he left.

While we were in Dallas We would go to the local mall a lot. And in this mall there was a ice rink. I remember once, there were people dressed up as Chip and Dale and they pulled me around. I liked that a lot, i was a big fan of Chip and Dale. When "Chip and Dale" werent there though, i would cling to the sides of the arena trying to skate. My mom always worried I would fall down and hurt myself.

My Mom bought me a pair of cowgirl boots and a cowgirl hat one time we were there. I loved my cowgirl hat. I would wear it everywhere. Other favorite places included the Disney Store (which had a lot of stuffed animals) and the Movie Theatre that was also in the basement of the Mall.

As for the actual surgery; i was very excited about it. I remember before we left, sitting in my dad's lap and him telling me I would have a jaw. I got really excited and asked him if I would have a jaw just like him. In my mind I thought once I had the surgery I would have a jaw, POOF, like it would magically appear and that I would be like everyone else. Of course, I was wrong. But what was I to assume?

When we were in the hospital before the surgery, my Mom and I made friends with this mom and daughter. The daughter had a deformity of the ears and I would play with her before she had her surgery. After she had it though, i never saw her again, though I kept trying to visit her.

When I woke up from my surgery, I immediately felt my face. I had a jaw, elation filled me. I couldnt stop smiling and rubbing it. It felt so smooth. One of My arms was bound to this board, forcing it straight because the IV was a metal one and they didnt want me moving my arm around. It annoyed me. I like the plastic flexible ones they have nowadays...no more boards .

What they had done was take two of my ribs and fit them together in a horseshoe shape in an attempt to give me a jaw.

So, afterwards, the doctor gave my mom orders to have me chew on gum to exercise my new jaw. I loved the gum. I remember my favorite brand was Trident. I was afraid i would swallow it, so i would bite on half of it and let the rest sort of...hang out my mouth. Better than me swallowing it and it going into my lungs (I tend to aspirate).

Another exercise that the doctor prescribed, along the same lines as the gum, was to manually move my jaw up and down...so it would get used to motion. My mom did this and it continued for a while when we went back home. The nurses took over. One day though i heard a SNAP when a nurse was trying to exercise my jaw. I immediately got up and ran to my mom, who tried to assure me everything was fine,but I KNEW that I felt something. And sure enough a few weeks later I was playing with my "jaw" in the car and noticed that only half of it was moving. It had broken in half. There were two subsequent surgeries to try and fix this. One involved a metal plate and screws. But that had to be taken out because I didnt have enough tissue to support it and the screws looked as though they would pop through my skin at any given moment in time. I remember long uncomfortable hours sitting in my mom's lap as she would try to stretch the skin so the screws wouldnt pop through and become infected as a result.

The second attempt at repair was done with strong suture thread. That didnt work either...I kept moving my jaw around and the threads broke. Yay for being a little kid and not knowing better.

The reason why the surgery failed was because the surgeons neglected to give the rib graft a blood supply. Smart huh. I honestly am not sure how they could neglect such an obvious step to sucess with my rib graft.

So, I still have the remnants of this surgery. The left part of my "jaw" has fused to the joint socket and I cant feel where the joint is supposed to be. Quite frankly I think the rib graft popped out of the socket and just fused itself to my skull because When i feel my left ear canal its a lot smaller than my right one. I think my rib graft is pressing on my canal making it smaller. But it isnt moving..so there isnt a problem. The rib graft reabsorbs back into my body a tiny bit each year...some parts of it are smaller than a pencil in thickeness. I do wonder what I will do when and if it breaks again. Though it isnt a constant topic on my mind.

Wow that took longer to explain than I thought it would. Hope you enjoyed it though.

Your diarist,

ScribbleScribe