Jackson Gosch

Jackson tripped and fell onto the couch in December 2019, just a couple of days before Christmas.

He should have been fine, but his left arm was hanging awkwardly and he was in pain. We went to our regular doctor’s office where they did some X-rays. On Christmas Eve, they told us that there was a break and he needed to be seen by orthopedist. There was a concern about cancer.

He had one appointment before COVID shut everything down. The doctor explained that Jackson had a bone cyst that would possibly heal itself; the break should have allowed the fluid in the cyst to drain.

In June 2020, we went back for an X-ray to check on the cyst. The doctor was concerned that the cyst had not only not healed, but had grown. Concerned about possible cancer, he referred Jackson to a surgeon.

After an MRI, the surgeon didn’t believe the cyst to be cancerous and suggested that we should wait, the cyst could still just go away. Over the next two years, Jackson broke his arm two more times. After that third break, the surgeon decided to offer surgery; we just had to wait for the break to heal.

There were two options. The first was to drain the fluid and inject a synthetic substance that would harden. This was an easier option, but likely would need to be repeated at least a few times over a couple of years.

The second was to cut open the bone where the cyst was located, scraping out the cyst completely and packing the void with donor bone.

Jackson opted for the 2nd option, hoping that it could be a faster way to be healed. He had his surgery in July 2022 and did very well.

He’s proud of his scar and tells everyone he can about it. He says that he’s got someone else’s bone inside his and it’s made him so much stronger.

He’s got to go back for X-rays regularly to check on the bone growth. After 2 1/2 years of being on physical restriction, he’s still worried about falling and breaking his arm again, but slowly starting to try more activities.