Traction- Day 1

Our Hip Chick began traction early this morning.  At breakfast, I showed her the photo (that I mentioned in my previous post) again.  I  reinforced that her legs would look like the little girl's leg's today.

The appointment itself was much quicker than anticipated.  She struggled and cried a little at first, but she adjusted much quicker than we expected.  It was more difficult holding her down for xrays than for her taping.  She was rather quiet during her test drive through Scottish Rite in her Radio Flyer wagon.  Her nurses remarked several times that she transitioned well.  They advised that it is common for children her age to howl and cry during their first spin in the wagon.

I do not wish to present a false image here- she did beg "up, please" several times, tell her new "socks" (as we are calling them) bye-bye, and struggle with us upon first arriving home.  But who wouldn't?  And when I left the room to warm her lunch, I returned to discover her flipped onto her stomach, trying to devise her escape.  She has attempted several "alligator rolls" to flip out of the unit.  

Considering it all, however, we are proud of how she handled this today.  Perhaps those discussions with the photograph made some sense after all.

We did agree to participate in the traction research study.  Data will be collected regarding her treatment and growth until she is at least 16 or 17 years of age.  There will be approximately 200 children in the study  (under age two at onset of traction).  We are honored that her treatment can contribute to the development of concrete data to treat other young children like her.

In regard to the actual device and treatment, a few notes:

The weights are sandbags.  Her nurses had lighter bags ready upon our arrival, but quickly pulled these.  We were given additional weight to add in the event these prove to be too light.  Our hippie will use heavier weight than this after her check up next week.  Our nurses explained that she will be able to remove her good leg/hip from traction if all looks good at the appointment, but that also means she will have greater leverage against the traction unit. Hence, the need for greater weight.



The photo above is of a monitoring unit.  There is one attached to each of her cables.  They will record how much time she spends in traction, per half hour increments.  Our firm goal is 22 hrs/day. 

Her outer bandages can be changed at home, but the medical staff are also happy to do it for us.  They will change them at her appointment next week and then leave it to our discretion as to who will change them between the appointment and the surgery date.  They stirrup tape may also be changed at these times.

Speaking of surgeries, it was further clarified to us today that there is a possibility her closed reduction could become an open reduction on the March 25th surgery date if traction does not have the desired outcome.  More on that to come, however.  For today, we are focusing on the immediate task at hand.