Karma - we had a wonderful receptionist named Sharon at Mark O'Sullivan's and she would answer anything and even put you in touch with other parents who Mark had treated. Unfortunately, Sharon left but I'm sure he would've made sure that there is someone else there to throw questions at.
DD had an MRI one week after the op, it was apparently the best way to see if everything had worked, and then so many x-rays after that, that I've lost count. I know what you mean about the cancer fear, but I just had to grin and bear it and hope that through this she has earned brownie points in the health department. The MRI didn't take very long at all, if that is some consulation to you. At RCH, they gave DD a sedative which helps them go off to sleep because they need to keep still.
Maybe make that extra appointment just to get some answers and have that piece of mind that you know exactly what is going on. Write everything down before you go, if you do.
Thanks Corelly. You are such a wealth of information and I really appreciate it :-)
I actually rang after my last post and spoke to I think Lisa at Mark O'Sullivan's office. She was so, so lovely. Unfortunately though we can't get an appointment next week before our surgery date and then the surgeon is on holidays. Even if we could get an appointment, Lisa indicated that we wouldn't be able to get a surgery slot until late September which is too far away given that our little girl is turning one already.
If it is an MRI or X-Rays I will be okay with that as I know that there aren't too many options in a case like this. It's more the CT that I am concerned about. I would feel so much better if I could just get an answer to that question from our surgeon. It looks like we will have to book an actual appointment next week with our surgeon just to get a few answers. At least then I might feel a little bit more informed.
Thanks again for the great info and advice that you have provided. :-)
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Karma that it is an MRI you get sent for. I'm surprised that the receptionist doesn't know what your surgeon prefers to do after surgery. Feel free to PM me at any time too, I can give you my details if you PM me.
Emma is doing really well, we got home yesterday afternoon. It is so good to be out of the hospital!
We went to Monash Children’s Hospital in Clayton and our Dr was Ton Tran (head of paediatric orthopaedic surgery). Our experience was a positive one, the Dr’s and nursing staff were fantastic.
Emma had an open reduction as expected. Her spica cast is plain plaster which we will write all over and keep once she’s out of it. She was first on the list, so we didn’t have to wait long until she was called for her op. She handled the 6 hrs fasting without any grizzling, such a good girl!
The anaesthetist used gas to put her to sleep (my husband held her in his arms whilst this was being done) and then used a block which made her numb from the waist down (helps with post op discomfort apparently).
The op went for 1 ½ hours. During this time my husband and I got a drink from the cafeteria, bought Emma a big balloon and then got our pram and car seat and took them to the ward so the OT’s could modified them if needed. The time went really quickly (thankfully) and before we knew it we were being called to see Emma.
She recovered really well from the anaesthetic, she was a little pale and swollen but otherwise good. She had a bottle as soon as she was awake.
The following day Emma had a MRI to confirm that the hip is in correct position, she screamed in the beginning as the loud banging noise frightened her, but actually fell asleep 5 mins before the end! I was in the room with her. We were discharged after this. Car seat was modified (like Corelly, we had to buy an extension strap $20), pram was ok as is.
Since being home Emma is much more settled, she slept solidly last night despite having nappy changed 3 hourly. Tonight we’ve decided 4hrly should be ok.
Karma1410, I hope our story helps you to prepare for August 11th. I’ll be more than happy to tell you anything else you want to know. The cast is heavier than I expected and was quite awkward to begin with, do you know if your daughter is getting fibreglass or plaster cast? Hope her 1st birthday is a blast. What is a cake smash by the way?! In regards to your post about wanting more questions answered by the surgeon, I would book another appt if it would put your mind at ease.
Corelly, I was told that the cast will only need to be on for 6 weeks not 12, yay! Emma will then most likely go into a Rhino Cruiser
So glad to hear everything went well furgurnie! Sounds like you have an amazing little girl. I hope the next 6 weeks go quickly and she (and you!) is coping ok. Was your hospital stay only overnight? We were told 3 nights - perhaps that could be because my DD is older?
We are going through Childrens Hospital at Randwick and our surgeon is Dr Angus Gray, we were referred to him by our Dr who has worked with my mum for around 20 years!
Im back at uni this week and im over it already!!! Hope you all have a great weekend
Hi PinkFairy, yeah everything went unbelievably smoothly for us. We really are blessed to have such an easy going little girl. She was a little unsettled at times today but we think it was due to frustration as she can’t kick her legs anymore. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain, but her incision site is a little tender when we brush past it putting her nappy inside the cast.
We were also told our stay would be 2-3 days, but Emma recovered really well and my husband and I were pretty happy and confident with caring for her in the cast so there was no need to be in hospital anymore. The worst part of the whole experience was sharing a room with 3 other babies recovering from surgery, so neither my husband or I got much sleep (not to mention Emma).
Furgurnie - great to hear Emma's surgery went really well. Her surgery sounded exactly like my DD's except we waited a week before we had the MRI. That's fantastic that the cast only needs to be on for six weeks look after your own back in that time, these munchkins get heavy suddenly in these casts! Unfortunately it is against BB guidelines to post photos on here, other than in a signature, but a lot get around it by making facebook friends. I think you can link to your facebook albums or an off-site photo share site, like flickr, but you'd have to ask one of the administrators how. We too stuck by the "rules" with nappy changing for the first few nights, but for us, DD ended up more unsettled after that so we stopped and let her go right through the night. It worked fine for us.
Wow you guys have been busy chatting! Feel like i cant keep up with you all!
Good Luck to Furgurnie, Sounds like you have already left for the operation, sorry i didn't get back to you with an answer to your question earlier.
"Madcat, how long after your daughter's first op did you find out that she needed another? Was she in a lot of pain post op? How long did she stay in hospital for?"
Kira was 9mths when first diagnosed, she had closed reduction and tendonectomy, surgeon said one year later that she may need further ops before she goes to school. It was always in the back of my head at every apptment, fast forward to now, she is 5 and has just had a salter osteotomy. Still not sure if she will need further procedures. When they are small it is hard to project how their hips will look, even one year on, so as parents of kids with DHD we all need to be mentally prepared for the possibility of our lovely ones having surgery. Its a long process, but it is worth every minute to see them being the best they can be. oops go carried away... Um yes she was in quite alot of post op pain, took awhile to work out how much Morphine to give her to keep pain at bay (I nearly took out a couple of nurses in the battle, and i am normally very calm!!) But they did redo the op four days later because bone graft moved out of position, i dont think this helped on the pain scale. we were in hospital a total of eight days.
The best part is: Someone asked Kira if she liked being in hospital, to my shock, she said it was great! She must have blocked out all the yucky bits and only remembers being able to eat as much ice cream and jelly as she wanted!
So as traumatic as it is for us, our little ones seem to have some AWESOME inbuilt coping strategies!!!!!!
Hi everyone,
Olivia has moved from her Pavlik harness and is now in a DB at 8wks old. I feel like we just got used of one brace and now we've got to learn to adapt to this one too. I've noticed that she's getting red marks on the very top of where her thighs meet her bum from the bar but the orthotist said as long as it doesn't look like it's going to break the skin then it's okay. I don't understand, she was only fitted last week and her next check up is in 4 more weeks, I just don't see how it's not going to dig in even more as she grows??? She also rarely sleeps much anymore during they day unless she's lying on my chest and only sleeps for just a few minutes in her bouncer, on her tummy or in her bassinett during the day and I'm really struggling to get anything done.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Sorry for the real downer of a post I hope you're all well xx
Liddy105 - my DS was in the dennis brown and we found that he ended up with some blisters where the brace cuffs rubbed, one of the girls from this forum suggested using socks - I cut up some adult knee high socks, discard the 'foot' bit and use the long tube bit thats left to put around the brace cuff, as the socks are usually elasticised they should stay on the brace cuffs pretty well - does that make sense?
We also found that we needed to put a rolled up blanket under DSs legs when he was laying down as otherwise his legs were perched in the air a little, and we also used to put a rolled up nappy on one side of him so he wasn't lying completely on his back, he seemed to get a bit uncomfortable and wakeful unless we did that. Also I bought a toddler pillow for him (quite flat) but the extra cushioning seemed to improve his comfort and he slept much better.
The first week he was in the brace was a bit of a shocker for sleep from memory, hopefully Olivia gets used to it soon and starts to sleep a bit more for you
look after your own back in that time, these munchkins get heavy suddenly in these casts! Unfortunately it is against BB guidelines to post photos on here, other than in a signature, but a lot get around it by making facebook friends. I think you can link to your facebook albums or an off-site photo share site, like flickr, but you'd have to ask one of the administrators how. We too stuck by the "rules" with nappy changing for the first few nights, but for us, DD ended up more unsettled after that so we stopped and let her go right through the night. It worked fine for us.
I hope you're all well xx
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