A New-ish Kind Of Surgery

I was told about Dr. Susan Mackinnon from Washington University in St. Louis and her nerve work, last year from another Mom of another neuro clubfooter.  It sounded fascinating and that Mom was going to try and get her son in to see her.  Long story short, it didn't work out.

Anyways, this is the reason why we were very excited to hear about Dr. Susan Mackinnon and her close proximity to Dr. Dobbs.

Nerve transfer operation restores hand function for paralyzed patient

 

Surgeons in St. Louis, Missouri, have restored hand function to a 71-year-old paralyzed man — the first reported reactivation of muscles in thumb and forefingers after a spinal-cord injury — thanks to a new operation called a nerve transfer.

You can read the whole article here.

http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120515/9890/nerve-transfer-rewiring-paralyzed-hand-quadriplegia.htm

It is fascinating and amazing and really so very simple.  I think this could be too late for Matthew as he has already had the tendon transfer, but for other kids coming up this could be a breakthrough for them.

I would also interested to hear if Dr. Dobbs has any thoughts on this. 

I know it made my day just thinking about the possibilities!  What a breakthrough!