HyProCure/Foot Surgery with Dr. Joe Picciotti

Kevin had his foot surgery (both feet) on Saturday, April 12 and all went well.
We hope that other FHC families will find this information helpful if considering the HyProCure.

Our family and friends have been well aware of our concerns with Kevin’s feet for the past few years. It was in 2011 when we first heard about the HyProCure procedure as a possibility in Kevin’s future. As minor as this procedure is we along with Dr. Joe and FHC wanted to try some other options before considering it - orthotic inserts, serial casting, muscle stimulation, wedge adjustments to his left shoe, a homemade walking track, and of course lots and lots of belly crawling with toe dig assistance. All of it has contributed to some progression but ultimately not enough.

At our May 2013 FHC revisit we began to seriously talk about the HyProCure as our next step (pun intended) but wanted to do some research on our own before making a final decision. And it was during our last FHC revisit in November 2013 that we began discussing possible surgery dates with Dr. Joe. It was first suggested to come back just a couple weeks later during the busy Christmas season which was not a real possibility for us, and then we tentatively decided on early January but then realized Dr. Joe would be out of the country 4 weeks after during the follow up visit. We then scheduled the surgery for mid February only to find out that I needed to have a hysterectomy at that same time. So it was then decided to schedule it 8 weeks after my surgery. 

If you are looking for more information on the HyProCure and how we came to this decision refer to the November 2013 posts in the blog: (You can also type in the word hyprocure in the white search box on the top left of the blog and all posts related will appear)
HyProCure - a summary Jon wrote after getting a second opinion with a foot doctor in Cleveland to discuss Kevin’s feet and the HyProCure surgery
Kevin’s New Program (Fall/Winter 2013) - under Physical Program we explain why we chose to do the surgery with Dr. Joe in New Jersey as opposed to closer to home with a doctor in Cleveland.

And here is a quick review of the HyProCure procedure from the website www.hyprocure.com
HyProCure is a minimally invasive procedure to realign the foot and at the same time help to ease the strain and alignment on other parts of the body including the knee, hip, and back. 
HyProCure is a titanium stent that is placed in between the ankle and heel bone. The ankle bone is instantly stabilized.
HyProCure is not screwed into the bone but pushed into it’s final position and held in placed by the soft tissues within the space.
The procedure is performed with only a light sedation and local anesthesia.
A small incision is made below the outer ankle bone. 
A deeper opening is made for the insertion of the stent.
The stent is placed.
The incision is closed with a few stitches.

The morning of the surgery, before we left the hotel we gave Kevin a dose of Valium. After arriving at Dr. Joe’s office 30 minutes later, we gave Kevin another Valium. About 15 minutes later we were in the exam room and Dr. Joe gave Kevin a very painful syringe injection into each foot to numb them for the surgery. Unfortunately, the Valium did not seem to be very helpful for this experience. For Kevin, the Valium medication seemed to need extra time to take effect and ultimately did not seem to have that much effect. This was the worst part of the whole surgery procedure. By the time I got “suited” up to be able to enter the operating room, Kevin seemed much more relaxed. We got set up in the operating room, they made a little fort around Kevin so that he or I could not see what Dr. Joe and nurse were doing. I began Kevin’s Jungle Book movie on his portable DVD player, by the time the previews and beginning credits had played Dr. Joe was done with the first foot and another 10 minutes later the second foot was completed and the surgery was over. It really was an easy procedure and I don’t believe Kevin felt a thing, the worst part of the whole thing was the numbing injection beforehand. I think we were at Dr. Joe’s office only an hour total. We took Kevin back to the hotel and spent the day in bed with his feet up and trying to ice his ankles every 20 minutes. Kevin didn’t tolerate the ice very well, we did the best we could with it, but he did not have much swelling anyway. He took some pain medication (Tylenol-Codeine) but only needed it sparingly that day (he didn’t even sleep during the day) and one last dose at midnight. (Antibiotic medication was prescribed as well.)

 Mom suited up before going into the surgery room

 Kevin & Dad immediately after surgery in Dr. Joe’s waiting room

Resting comfortably in hotel room after surgery

I honestly was not too concerned about the surgery part of it. I spent more time thinking about the after surgery and how to keep Kevin off his feet for 3 to 8 weeks. I can not imagine keeping our ambulatory independent son from getting up onto his feet. Not to mention that I had just had a big surgery 8 weeks prior and did not feel strong enough to handle all the lifting that would be required of me. I’ll report more on how that is going later.