Post Casting: One Month Recap

Happy New Year from the Hip Chick household!  One month has passed since cast-off and the new year has brought us renewed hopes for our daughter's medical future.  What do the months ahead hold?  As the future is uncertain, we opted to ring in the new year with a bit of celebration.  Big Sis spent added time with us through the holiday, which helped bring extra merriment to the occasion.

We kicked off the evening with our traditional New Year's Eve dinner and a family board game- Candyland.  Hip Chick threw up her fists in celebration of each card  drawn and Big Sis giggled from the special fizzy juice in her pink flute.  Before Hip Chick was too tired, Mommy wrote each family member's New Year wish on a card and sealed it for the year to come.  They are safely stowed on our mantle, in hopes of their realization.

While I won't divulge most of our wishes, Hip Chick's wish reminded me of a prior holiday with Big Sis.  We were in our place of worship, celebrating the world's creation in a children's service.  The children were encouraged to think of a birthday wish for the world and then invited to say the wish aloud, on cue.  Big Sis made us laugh aloud quite heartily... she wished for cheese.  Hip Chick did not wish for cheese, but she did wish for fairies.  How couldn't the world be a better place with more cheese and fairies? Perhaps we should all wish with a child's eyes once a year.

Hip Chick put herself to bed by 9pm and Big Sis barely made it to midnight... but the new year arrived regardless.  We celebrated the next morning with our tradition of homemade beignets... made by Mommy!  Alas, there are no photos, as they were gobbled that fast.  A sweet beginning, indeed.

Below are our latest "hip" thoughts.

1.  At one month post-spica and four months post-osteotomies, how is Hip Chick's mobility?

She can walk, crawl, and climb, but leads mostly with her right leg.  She is trying to figure out how to jump.  The range of motion in her right leg is just as before, but the left is still coming along.  She walks with a very pronounced limp, but her surgeon advised she would do so for approximately six months post-spica.

2.  Have we needed any aids to help encourage her progress?

Her surgeon had cautioned against pushing her further than she is ready to progress.  With that said, we do want her to be proud of her legs and gait.  She wore patterned Rock-a-Thigh socks while her legs were still sensitive and the weather wasn't too cold.  Mommy had also promised her "sparkly shoes" once she could walk again and the ones above were some of the sparkliest of Stride Rite's line currently offered on Amazon.  When she walks correctly, they reward her with muticolored, blinking lights shooting along their sides.  The effect is as hoped.  She stomped alongside one of her teachers on Friday, exclaiming, "they help me stomp like a dinosaur!"

3.  How are the sleep disturbances progressing?

A very wise person questioned whether any portion of our sleep issues could be managed with a smidge of added motivation.  We filled a big basket with treasures from Target's $1 aisle and informed her that she could earn a prize if she stayed in her bed all night last night.  She needed a little comforting once around 1am, but managed to stay in her own bed!  Hip Chick was so thrilled with her accomplishment that she requested touse her prize as soon as possible this morning.  Let's hope we can repeat the accomplishment tonight!

4.  What additional challenges are we navigating with Hip Chick at this time?

From the time they begin walking until about three or so years of age, human beings are very busy creatures.  When you take one and bottle up their ability to move for the better part of a year, the "freedom rush" pops and explodes with the force of a champagne bottle once their full mobility is offered again.  Hip Chick is making up for lost time with all the unruliness,  character, and spunk of the heroine Merida from Disney's movie Brave.  

5.  Prior posts Indicated an abscess and her body's elimination of an entire suture line- how has this progressed?

She seems to be healing nicely.  Her surgeon's office called a couple of times on Monday to discuss.  If a "hole" remained where the thread had pushed out of her body or if the incision area showed signs of infection, she.would have needed medical attention.  Fortunately, this was not the case.

6..  What and when is the next milestone?

It is this week.  She will have an xray to determine whether her femur is still properly in socket.  We also need to discuss the timing for a surgery to remove the plate which has been holding her femur together.  If her xray shows promising results, we can schedule the hardware removal and hope for about six months without medical appointments.  If her xray shows that her femoral head is beginning to pull away from the socket?  

Let's just say that this week's visit is of great significance for us.  Last July, her hip fully redislocated within two weeks after her spica was cast  removed.  This week's appointment will be her first imaging since December's cast removal.  To us, it feels as this appointment is the pivotal moment to move forward with a little relief or added planning.  Either way, we are ready.