Kira had her cast off on Friday! YEAH WOOHOO (much silly dancing!)
All went really well, the bones are knitting back together, she still has three large pins holding everything together, they will be taken out in the coming months when the bone is more solid. It was so beautiful to she her turn up in our bedroom the next morning, after having very slowly walked from her own room (it took ages), holding on to the wall the whole way!!!! (a tear of very proud mum)
So still not out of the woods yet, Surgeon said may need to do further surgery to top of leg bone to get a better position, but that wont be for a few years yet! Phew!!
I am so happy!!!!!
Leigh26 - Glad everything went well for the scan results.
As to your question (a really good one, by the way!) about warning signs...
Kira slipped under the radar and wasn't diagonsed till nearly 10mths old, but i did notice some things, she had more creases under one side of her bum than the other, one leg slightly longer, she wouldn't put weight on one leg when being held up right, she would really scream when the tried to do the leg rotation test at the CMHN. Looking back it was so obvious, but as a first time mum with none of the typical risk factors, and not even knowing what Hip Dysplasia was, it went unnoticed.
Furgurnie- Glad things are going so well for you. Grandpa should go into business, the table on facebook was awesome!!!
Corelly - Walking is such a great milestone with our babes, whenever and however they are able to.
Jackie - Glad to hear things are getting back on track for you now.
When Kira was in full spica when she was just over 1yr, she worked out how to pull her self into a standing position! Much to my horror! She also worked out how to walk (holding on to furniture) around in her brace. Kids are such gutsy little unstoppable creatures. hehe
Madcat- that is great news, Kira must be thrilled… and you of course! Good to hear she is walking, even if a bit wobbly to begin with. Does she have to have physio to rebuild strength and muscle? How often do you have follow up appointments now? Did you keep her cast?
Emma is loving her special table and chair that her grandpa made for her, it allows her to sit upright and play whilst in her cast. You are right Madcat, my dad should go into business making them, there isn’t much out there in Australia for spica chairs etc.
How good has the weather been lately, bring on Spring I say!
Furgurnie - for your birthday ticker (sorry don't know how to do a link) - go to the forum tab, into forum help abbreviations faqs and then right down the bottom of the list of threads there is one called "how do I add a ticker to my signature" . You might need to ask a moderator. I've forgotten how I did mine, because I had some trouble too and had to ask for help. I also read somewhere that you need to have a few posts up your sleeve to be able to get one. Your dad should market these chairs for spica kids, clever idea!
Madcat - fantastic that Kira is out of her cast! Must have been so wonderful to hear her coming down to your room, special determined girl!!!!
Hope you have all been going well? We are back to normal with miss I. Yay!! We had a good weekend and now busy with lots of birthday parties until mid September. My girls birthday party is on 22 Aug, so trying to do all the last minute things for that.
Madcat - How goddamn exciting that your little girl is Spica free! That would've been a total melting heart moment hearing her come into your room. What a courageous little girl. Wow wee also standing in the Spica. I was amazed my one is standing in the brace.... How have you all been going since the spica came off?
Furgurnie - What a very clever grandpa Emma has... Not sure whether I read you can't post pictures, but can you?? Would love to see. I agree, there isn't really much out there that you can purchase to help our Spica kids. The weather has been totally gorgeous, we even enjoyed our home day today after swimming. It was nice to just chill and look out at the miserable weather.
We have our appointment in a week and am so bloody nervous. I have a bad feeling, but not sure if I am looking too hard at Isabelle and mentally preparing for bad news. Hope that makes sense. Just wish it was here already.
Anyhoo, hello to all the other mummies and hope everyone is travelling well.
Corelly, thanks for explaining how to get that ticker thing as a signature, I have tried a few times now, not working for me! I think you may be right, I need more posts up my sleeve to be able to do it. Has your daughter taken her first steps yet?!
Jackie- I think the table and chair is fantastic, it gets Emma up off the floor and sitting upright, she loves it. Dad may make more if people want one, so let me know. Don’t think you can post photos on this site so you can see it on my facebook page, just search Rebecca Van Geyzel. I have all Emma’s pic’s of her in her cast of there, it’s a great way to keep family and friends updated on her progress.
I have been out with Emma quite a bit now, I was expecting people to give us strange looks when they saw her cast but people are curious and ask why she has it. It is amazing just how many people know of someone that was in a cast or has been in a brace.
Jackie - I've got my fingers crossed that your appointment goes well. It's a horrible feeling, that waiting and hoping. Hope it's great news for you.
Furgurnie - DD took her first solo steps on Sunday. She took two early in the afternoon and then another couple later, but she's been too chicken to try again and gripping onto my hand with everything she's got *sigh* . She's getting really frustrated now, even my mum commented on it yesterday. Crawling just isn't quick enough for her, but she has to convince herself to do the next bit. You're braver than me with the cast. I pretty much went to the doctor's appointments and that was about it while DD was in it. I was nervous about the car seat, she was propped up so much that she had very little padding around her, so we kept ourselves busy with lots and lots of walks.
Corelly - Wow great news on the walking front, its the first steps that lead to the rest! Wont be long now...
Jackie - Fingers crossed for your appointment. hope all goes well.
Furgurnie - Glad all is easier than you expected. I love it when that happens!
Miss K is doing really well, she is walking around now (with wobbly limp and tiptoe), She says it doesn't hurt but feels like she is wearing high heals on one side and is a bit uncomfortable. Apart from that, she is able to sit in any position and seems to have full flexibility back. In six weeks we will have another appt to see if bone is solid enough to have pins removed.
Does anyone have any good ideas on how to keep spica casts from smelling?? I have noticed a slight odour that isn’t gross or anything, but don’t want it getting too bad. I have dabbed a eucalyptus soaked cotton wool ball on the cast but wondering if there is something better out there? We have 3 ½ weeks left, woohoo!!
Jackie– good luck this week at the appointment, I hope you get only good news. I will be thinking of you.
Corelly- yay, I have my signature ticker thing up and running! It appears that you must have to posted a certain number of times before your allowed one. That is fantastic your daughter has taken some steps, what a heart melting moment. Has she taken any more unassisted?
Madcat- so awsome Kira is walking so soon after the cast removal, I have heard that kids walk on their tip toes afterwards sometimes, do you know why that is? Does she need physio? Hope all continues to go well for you.
If anyone is interested in spica chair hire for a great price let me know, my dad made Emma a chair that she can use whilst in the cast and has now made a few more as he’d love to help others out there in the same situation.
Hope you all had a lovely weekend?? Ours was very busy, but great!! We had both girls in bed by 6.30 tonight and now rest time for hubby and me.
Corelly - what wonderful news about your DD having the courage to take steps. I so get that about the poor little munchkin getting frustrated. I am starting to see little bits of that in Izy with wanting to move faster and not.
Madcat - sounds like miss K is moving forward in leaps and bounds. It's amazing with how quick everything comes together for them. With the pins, is that through the bone??
Furgurnie - Cannot believe you are just about half way through?!?!? Your time seems to be flying by. Good on you for getting out and about. I was a bit of a homebody too with my bub. I did get a few stares which I found a little uncomfortable, but mainly due to the weather, she had hers on in January and was really concious about not getting her overheated and sweating which then turns to itching. As far as a bit smelly on the nose, I also heard about eucalyptus and also baby powder, this can also soak up any extra moisture. What a lovely gesture from you and your dad with hiring them out.
Thank you all so much for your wishes on Tuesday. Am very, very nervous as I know you can relate too. We are having our x-rays tomorrow and then see the paed orth on Tuesday morning. Will make sure I pop on to let you know how we go.
Hi to everyone else and hope you all have a great week!!!
Furgurnie - Casts do get smelly, i suppose the only things you can do are avoid leakages, and a little drop of eucalyptus oil as above or Nilodour. Dont worry too much about a little smellyness, the guy who removed the K's first cast said they have seen some really bad ones and ours was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Not sure about tip toe thing, perhaps it balances out any slight difference in leg length. This seems to be K's motivation. Now that her legs are closer to being the same she says it feels like she is walking with one high heal on, and after one being shorter for so long, it may take a little getting used to. I will ask surgeon next time.
Jackie - Hope your appts went really well
Oh and yes K has three pins running through the hip bone to hold it together till the bone knits back together, but to remove them they just need to make small incision and pull them out like slinters (just really big ones). Should be in the next couple of months.
Test drive ticker below, fingers crossed.
Last edited by Madcat; August 17th, 2010 at 10:34 AM.
: wrong ticker code
Just a quickie from me today, but appointment went better than last time. He is happy with how it is coming along. He wants us to be in the brace full time (23 hours/day) for another 6 weeks and then go to night time only. Yippeeeeeeeee We go back and have x-rays and see him on the 1 Feb 2011. Looking at the x-ray, I cannot believe how much it has grown in the last 3 months. So the start of October, my baby girl will be free of a day time.... I sooo cannot wait, so their party this weekend will also be a little celebration of the home stretch for our treatment.
Madcat - That sounds so much better than what I was imagining how they would take the pins out. Will this be painful for her??
I only just found this thread, but want to offer a as we are hopefully nearing the end of our journey.
at 2 weeks mchn found a click in the left hip of dd, and asked me to mention it to the doc at the 6 week check up. (If we have another bub I will be getting any clicks checked earlier) waited until 6 weeks and by 7 weeks had a DB brace on.
Like so many others I too cried, I felt like I was going to miss out on something, that I had failed my little girl. And yes she smiled at me the whole time. I only had about 24hours to get used to the idea, because we were lucky enough to get an appointment right away at the rch. The night before we had a nice warm shower together and some non brace skin to contact, and a big cuddle. On the day i dressed her as cute as I could in the 000 jeans I had recently purchased so that she got at least one wear out of them!
After the brace she was in a little disscomfort, but more because she couldn't move her legs the way she was used to, and became accustomed to the brace very quickly. After 1 week we went back to have the size of the brace checked, and she was upgraded to a bigger size (wish i had kept the tiny brace).
She continued to sleep well (not anymore but that's a different story not related to the brace) and thrive, no problems feeding, took a few days to re-learn how to poo in that position though.
Our first appointment back was after only 3 weeks, and shows just how clever little bodies are as her right hip was very boarderline and the left had improved to 60% ?? coverage with just a little rounding in the corners to be ironed out, and we could remove the brace for baths, so no more sponge baths.
6 weeks later for another check and progressing very well still, rights pretty good, and just the tiniest bit left on the left side, and yay we are down to nights and naps only. (which I have to say I found much more logistically difficult)
we are due to go back in under 3 weeks and i am crossing my fingers that this little girl can bid farewell to the brace and start a moving and a shakin, because she soooo wants to.
All in all, I was sad at first, but new it had to be done. In retrospect I am extreemly glad it was done at such a young age, with very little intrusion on her life, and body.
so to anyone at the start of this journey you will survive, it will be ok and it is all for the best
Hi all, 2 weeks to go til Emma’s cast comes off, yay!
Kungfubecca- It is amazing how quickly babies adjust to things, I think the journey is a whole lot harder for the parents!
It must have been frustrating knowing the mchn found a click at 2 weeks and you then had to wait until 6 weeks for anything to be done about it. My DD didn’t have a click, but had an ultrasound at 6 weeks (as I had both hips dislocated at birth) and that was abnormal so another ultrasound was booked for 6 weeks later. This next ultrasound was ok so they said in ANOTHER 6 weeks have an ultrasound just to check all was ok. It was this 3rd one that showed that an x-ray was needed to see if right hip was dislocated. It was. I was so upset to think that she could have been in a brace straight away and this may have prevented her having surgery.
Best of luck for your appt in 3 weeks time, I hope the brace has worked it’s magic.
Corelly- how is your DD going with her walking, must have really improved from your previous post?!
Jacksnjeff – that is great news about your appt. You and your little girl must be counting down the days til October, how fantastic.
Madcat- we had our checkup the other day and they said the cast was in great condition and they couldn’t smell anything… must be just me being paranoid!! Fingers crossed Kira’s bones are nice and strong in a few weeks time so she can have them removed and get on with being a busy little girl.
2 weeks to go Furgurnie? That's fantastic! DD is still very hesitant to walk. Up until yesterday, she hadn't given it a go again, but then she tried it out twice yesterday! But today, nothing. Chucks a wobbly if we encourage her. Grrrr. I'm so impatient!!!!!!! I think I sent you a friend request on FB. You probably looked and though "Uh, some random!!!"
Corelly- I have accepted you on FB now, sorry aout that!! Yeah, 2 weeks to go, going really fast. I can't wait to see her little legs again
I am sure your DD is just trying to keep you in suspence, ha ha!
Corelly & Furgurine I feel so much for the the little ones I've seen in plaster (and for their families) and I thank my lucky stars we have a great health nurse and GP. (only just found him 12 months ago, will be devestated if he ever leaves)
In retrospect I should have taken Ruby back to the GP at 3 weeks, and might have caught it even sooner, but I didn't think it was going to be what it was.
Furgurine that must have been frustrating waiting so long, and with family history too. I may have been put in a similar position as a public patient the hospital here doesn't consider possible hip dysplasya as urgent and you have to wait 5 weeks, and then possibly having to wait for a referal at the RCH. Instead my GP gave me a referal to another private radiography place and the RCH must have been having a slow week 'Cause they took as right away, (don't think that would have happened if my GP hadn't phoned) it was a whirlwind week, everything went so fast. It seems strange that so little importance is placed on treating this early when it is better for everyone involved, including the halth care system - surely it's cheaper
I wish everyne the best Corelly you will have to run after your little girl in no time! Once she does get going you won't be able to stop her.
Hi lovely mummies,
I haven't posted for a little while but I just wanted to share a little update. Olivia had her scan and review today at the Royal Childrens and the Dr was really happy with her progress so she now only has to wear her DB bar during sleep times. I'm mentioned to the orthotist that I was a bit worried how I was going to manage putting the brace back on for day naps as I still don't know when she's only going to have a catnap or a good long nap and she suggested that I just keep it on an extra few hrs in the morning or evening to make it a bit easier.
She's been in her pavlik & DB bar fulltime since 6wks (she's now 12wks).Today has been a very good day
as we are hopefully nearing the end of our journey. 
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