A New Plan

Earlier this year, Jo was given some news that we had kind of hoped would somehow resolve itself. Her left shoulder continues to hurt and we have known for a while that it had not healed just quite right. Jo was scheduled for knee surgery in early April, but that surgery has now been put on the back burner.

Jo's next surgery is going to be another surgery on her left shoulder - the third surgery for this shoulder. Dr. Kelly is going to take a piece of bone from the shoulder of a donor (no volunteers please - I think the donor has to be dead) and pin that piece of shoulder into Jo's existing shoulder. Over time this piece of new shoulder should grow together with her existing bone and prevent any further damage to the cartilage.

The ball of Jo's shoulder has collapsed slightly and it is rubbing against the cartilage causing pain and limited range of motion. Dr. Kelly says that there is a 90% chance that the bone transplant will take care of the pain and give Jo back her range of motion.

We are now on a waiting list for a bone donor. Once a match is made, Jo will have to have surgery within about 4 weeks. The recovery is expected to take a little longer than the previous shoulder surgeries with Jo being in a sling for 8 to 12 weeks.