If I could actually draw, which I can’t, you would have a much better image of what’s going on. But I can’t, so I tried to draw from memory the MRI that they showed us, which, is horrible but I will still use it as a visual aid.
First, what the heck is a seroma?
A seroma is a collection of fluid that builds up under the surface of your skin. Seromas may develop after a surgical procedure, most often at the site of the surgical incision or where tissue was removed. The fluid, called serum, doesn’t always build up right away. The swelling and fluid may start collecting several weeks after surgery.
Several weeks! Or in Atticus’ case, several months. He’s been having some pain, especially wearing his prosthetic and then taking it off. He landed in the ER one day because the pain was so bad, and it was, of course, the weekend. X-rays showed nothing, then they sent him down to MRI and Oncology talked to OHSU surgeon, and I got a call the following Monday that this seroma has been growing, and now quite large, which is why the pain was considerably worse.
Let’s take a look:
I am not a drawing artist
Disclaimer again, not a good artist, the scale is probably all off, but it will hopefully give an idea of what’s happening, and the colours I used are used as an illustration, not actually the colours of inside his leg (I’m pretty sure bones aren’t blue!).
For some reason, because bodies just do what they want sometimes, his tissue inside (red lines = tissue) didn’t heal to itself like it should have, which created scar tissue on the inside, which created a neat little pocket for fluid to go into. I’m going to continue to use the word “fluid” so I don’t gross myself out just writing this. The surgeon could see on the scans there was scar tissue all around it (the black line), and he could drain it, but the pocket would just fill right back up again.
The surgery that will take place will drain the fluid, and then the surgeon will remove the scar tissue so it’s back to healthy tissue on the inside and hopefully this time it will heal the correct way. The surgery is scheduled for November 12, we don’t have a time yet. He will be getting a COVID test two days before, then we keep on quarantining until we get to the hospital.
He will end up needing another new socket for his prosthetic, after recently just getting a new one; but we will take that bridge when we get to it.
Speaking of COVID, the rates are going up all over the country again, and in Multnomah County. All the hospitals are pretty strict about visitors, even going to his scans and oncology appointments, where we are all the time - I still have to convince them I am actually his mother. I’ve always appreciated when my friends joined me at past surgeries - in the waiting room and bringing me snacks, but, well, COVID. So keep us in your thoughts, send good vibes, whatever your thing is, but don’t visit! It should be a day surgery anyway and hopefully, depending on what Pathology says, go home after he wakes up.
He will have a drain, so they will be training us on caring for the drain which I am really not looking forward to. One would think after almost 3 years of gross stuff I would be able to handle all this better and better, but I’m pretty sure it’s getting worse and now everything grosses me out, so that’s a fun mom side effect I wasn’t expecting!
For those of you who know where we live, you can always swing by (text him or myself first please) and wave at Atticus through the window while he heals.
There is our recent update! Remember, when you are working from home, or tired of trying to help your kids with their at-home-schooling, or they are driving you nuts…you might be sick of this pandemic, that there are children all across the globe who have been quarantining and wearing masks before COVID showed up. There are kids dying of cancer, so remember them when you are worried about your kids being behind, or can’t see their friends - there are many kids who are so sick they can’t even do online schooling, who have fallen behind in school. Parents are grieving -even if the child is still alive - it’s still a huge grieving process, and don’t even know if their child will stay alive. Be kind to service workers, wear your masks, socially distance, believe in science, and hug your healthy kids.
