Osteotomies: Post-Op Checkup

Today was our daughter's post-op appointment, from her salter osteotomy and femoral shortening early last week.  Despite a ragged disposition during her xray, she received an A on her progress.  Her surgeon could see early signs of bone healing and all is still in place- the hardware and cast are doing their job.  Her swelling has receeded quicker than expected.  Her bed rest and load-bearing restrictions are lifted, so she can begin test driving the cast!

Speaking of such things, the end of this piece on her right leg, just above the stability rod, had begun to lift.  We ensured this was reinforced prior to leaving.  After the petrie cast wobble of July, we wanted this addressed prior to letting her loose on the floor.

We celebrated with a stroll though our local mall.  She enjoyed a yogurt smoothie as we gave her special chair its first spin in a public space.  She especially loved a famous doll store, filled with babies and "big girl" dolls alike.  We followed with lunch at a nearby restaurant.  We selected the restaurant partially because we knew it would be easy to navigate the wheelchair in it.  Success!  Her first outing in her special chair.

We recently received a generous gift basket, to include a collection of 10 small board books about feelings, box pictured at top.  They are designed for Hip Chick's age group and very smartly written.  The book on anger was particularly interesting to me.  The little turtle above reminded me of how she cried all night after her surgery about "being stuck."  She was a little like this turtle while admitted, on her back and unable to move.  

The birdie above reminds me of her disposition at present.  She has been begging to play in her toy kitchen and host tea parties.  She wants to do things for herself that she cannot quite do.

I hope to help her expand on the "brave" book.  It is apparent that this phase of her hip dysplasia journey will require more emotional maintenance and assistance with verbalization.  The page below may speak a little to each of us in some way, as Daddy, Big Sis, and Mommy each had their own fears about this next round of surgery and casting.

With the hard work of the past eight days behind us, however, we can do anything!

Lastly, we must bid our newfound love for patterned duct tape adieu.  As it turns out, patterned duct tape has latex and it is difficult to fully clean latex out of an OR.  As we are not the only family using patterned duct tape as a means to cheer up a spica, it is causing difficulty for children who have latex allergies.  Our daughter's surgeon advised that we would be welcome to use latex-free duct tape if we could find it (did Mommy hear a challenge?), but otherwise we will use other tape for Hip Chick's final cast.  Now to find craft projects for all of the excess patterned duct tape in the house!