Happy summer! We have been busy in the Hip Chick household and hope your summer has been as eventful as ours. Mommy opted to take a blogging sabbatical for the past three months... but we have a plethora of news to relay and have returned with a midsummer's blog. This has been a happy time for Hip Chick, as her mobility gains accelerated and some exciting milestones have passed.
First milestone was our family's maiden Disney cruise! It was decided that, after all she experienced in 2013, no one deserved to meet Mickey and Minnie more than Hip Chick. Mommy had read other 'hip' moms' experiences regarding their hip kids' (in)ability to manage active days post-surgery/casting and wondered whether Hip Chick would straggle behind... but not our little hippie!
We enjoyed two days at the beach, swam most days, and met every Disney character we spotted on ship! Any volatility on behalf of Hip Chick was more due to too much fun and too little sleep some nights rather than mobility concerns.
Our vacation was followed by Hip Chick's third birthday! This was extra-special for our family, as this was the first birthday that she could walk. Not only walk... she jumped and bounced her heart out at a local bounce house event center. It was only befitting that she requested a "Brave" theme, as our spunky little princess certainly acted far more like Merida during all of her surgeries and casting last year than Sleeping Beauty.
After her birthday, Hip Chick enrolled in two activities: her first cooking class and her first weekly dance class! We naturally cook at home, as Mommy has a passion for cooking. As we couldn't enroll her in sports this spring, cooking seemed to be a natural fit.
While casted last year, she would watch her little friends attend dance class and then sadly ask when she would be able to dance, too... so the news that we enrolled her was met with grand excitement. Her first "dance" was to the Pharrell Williams hit Happy and I cannot think of a more fitting welcome. She has learned to gallop, is crawling through tunnels, and is jumping! Her dance instructor advised that Hip Chick's standing locomotor skills are fantastic, given her medical challenges. Her opportunity lies in some of stretching motions the group begins class with. Namely, she cannot fully draw her left knee to her chest and sometimes compensates with unusual positions on her left side. At home, this means she has difficulty putting her left sock and shoe on and pulling them off. Which leads us to her quarterly imaging and physical in mid-July.
While we have enjoyed a significant reduction in her medical needs this year, her July appointment was met with much anticipation. Not only was this appointment to check her hip's progress, but to also discuss her upcoming femoral plate removal (day surgery). When we informed Hip Chick of her upcoming appointment, the first thing she mentioned was Scottish Rite's popcorn machine. Scottish Rite was certainly wise in integrating that sunny spot into its culture. Mommy would much prefer that her knee-jerk reaction to Scottish Rite is over popcorn than a series of medical procedures.
As usual, we began our appointment in Radiology. Hip Chick surprised us all with her best xray to date! Some of our avid readers may recall tales from prior blog posts of three or four adults working together to restrain her for an xray... but those days are (hopefully) behind us. Now, she can look at an xray and talk about the bones inside her body. While 18 months is a relatively brief time for us adults, it makes a big difference in a young child's experience.
After a short wait and vitals, Hip Chick met with a Nurse Practitioner. She performed a few physical tests to determine her range of motion. Later, she returned with our daughter's surgeon and his team, which included additional physical tests. We learned that her femur appears to have healed nicely and her femoral head remains in socket. It remains a little low... but, as mentioned in her last quarterly update, there is time for this to rise into a mid-socket position.
We asked about her dance instructor's observations. Her surgeon questioned whether her new hip socket has developed a minor "ridge" or "lip" which is limiting her left leg's range of motion as described above. As with her femoral head's placement, he suspects this will smooth out over time. Her mobility gains are still very positive, however. She would have been unable to run, jump, or gallop without surgery and casting, so Mommy and Daddy remain very encouraged with her news. (The climb above would have been impossible without medical intervention. Thank you, Scottish Rite!)
We celebrated with a little playtime on Scottish Rite's newly renovated playground.
And so we have another day surgery to go. As part of the osteotomies last year, a plate was placed onto her femur to stabilize it for recovery. Adults may have the option to retain any such hardware placement, but young children need these sorts of things removed to prevent any hindrance to growth. Her surgeon doubts that a spica cast will be necessary for recovery (Whew!). He advised that the total healing time is approximately three years, but the immediate risk of refracture is during the first few weeks following removal... it appears that our biggest opportunity for this recovery will be making her rest! She will remain home from preschool for the first couple of weeks to prevent any irresistible temptation lurking at the playground. A couple of weeks at home as opposed to last year's 26 weeks of casting? Challenge gladly accepted!
No comments:
Post a Comment