Surgery Or Metalwork?

My little brother had major surgery to repair his ankle a few weeks ago.

His bones never really grew properly in this area, so at age eight he underwent his first corrective operation. This latest was the ninth procedure on this foot.

This go round, his surgeon removed most of the assorted metal implanted in my brother's ankle (pins, staples, screws, broken screw bits, etc.). The surgeon then broke the foot and ankle in three places, inserted pins to hold everything together, stapled together the incisions, and sealed the whole thing in place with a cast.

Hopefully this will be the last surgery the kid will ever need on his ankle.

I've since taken him to get the visible metal removed, and he's asked me to document the process. He has all of the photos and while he hasn't shared many yet I've included a pic of hispre-staple-removal foot below the jump. (Not for the faint of heart). If he sends me more pics, I'll also add them here -- I know I took a great shot of his doctors yanking out the pins with a pair of pliers. Good times.

He's now staple and pin-free and has upgraded to a walking cast. A few more weeks and he'll even be off of crutches entirely. Happy holidays, indeed.

33 staples + 3 six-inch pins = No joke

Now to keep the villagers from stabbing him with pitchforks, and him from using the pins as jewelry for piercings. Yikes.