Update on my Mother in law....

Several weeks, if not a month ago, Amy stopped taking her IV antibiotics per her Doctor's orders, and her blood work came back that she had infection again. :(. Her Orthopedic Surgeon was at a loss so he referred her to Gerhard Maale, MD (pronounced Molly) of Plano, TX. He founded the DFW Sarcoma Group, which specializes in Orthopaedic Oncology, Sarcomas, & Total Joint Reconstruction.

Dr. Gerhard Maale, himself, specializes in orthopaedic oncology, osteomyelitis, infected total joint arthroplasty, joint replacement, and complex joint reconstruction.

Could there not be a better Doc for her to see, given her current situation, than him?? I think not.

And he was perfect. She and Fred met with him yesterday and they really liked him! He will probably perform surgery around the middle of February. She must have several tests run before they schedule, but luckily she will have them at Covenant in Lbk! A Plastic surgeon will be involved and it will be a complicated, long surgery, but hopefully, only one and she should be able to walk shortly thereafter. She will be in the hospital at least a week.

How great is this news??

Her plastic surgeon, before this appt with Dr. Maale, was talking about having to put an expander in her knee to stretch it out in preparation for another surgery so she could eventually have the knee replacement, but Dr Maale said all that could be skipped as he plans to use a muscle from her shoulder or thigh so it can all be done at once. Hooray!! I sure hope his plan works although I'm sure it will as people come from all over the world to see him. He is that good. So we were praising God yesterday for this remarkable news. She could still use your prayers though as she's not completely out of the woods just yet.

Funny story: The Coopers' had us over for dinner Monday night and they asked about Amy. We told them she was seeing Dr Maale due to some further complications, and, come to find out, that's the same Doc Joey saw before being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis by his rheumatologist. Crazy huh??? Dr Maale went in and did the surgery on Joey, found nothing but cartilage, cleaned it all out, then referred him back to the rheum and that's when they realized what it was. Joey took medication for about 4 years but has since stopped taking it and is pretty much good as new. He will go back on it if problems arise again but for now, all is well. Joey said Dr. M is legit, brilliant, will take good care of her, and hopefully solve this mystery for us. Which, as of now, it appears he has. What an unbelievably small world!


Cheers,
Lindley