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A Fort Wayne boy received medical treatment with the help of a Warsaw orthopedic company, Biomet, Wednesday morning.
Ryan Peck, 6, son of Susan and Gregory Peck of Fort Wayne, has Apert's Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that caused the plates in his skull to fuse together, restricting the growth of his brain.
In six years, Ryan has had more than a dozen operations, and Wednesday morning's surgery at Fort Wayne's Parkview Hospital involved doctors cutting gaps in Ryan's facial bones and shifting them toward the rightful positions.
Ryan's grandparents, Jerry and Joyce Kreger, live in Pierceton and were willing to share some information on their grandson's operation.
After surgery, Ryan's face will be restructured over a period of 10 days with a device called the Rigid External Distraction Device. The model skull that was used to fit the device was manufactured by Biomet while the device itself was made by KLS Martin of Jacksonville, Fla.
According to Jerry Kreger, it will take Ryan six months or less to completely recover from the surgery.
This is the first and only model like this that has been created in Indiana and this procedure is very new.
"The doctors that did it were very great," Kreger said. But he did mention that Ryan will probably have surgeries until he is done growing.
Ryan is a bright and fascinating child, according to Kreger. He has not had a bad attitude or a sense of self-pity through this whole ordeal.
"He's very jovial all the time," Kreger said.
Kreger believes that the surgery was successful and Ryan has retained his good humor.
Wednesday's surgery took approximately 10 hours.
