It's Not That Bad (But Please Keep Sending Food and Offering to Watch Our Kids)

We are 6 days post-surgery with Elena. The first two days were not especially pleasant, but things have taken a positive turn. She hasn't needed any pain medication for 2-3 days. Here is a picture of the two kids sharing the iPad.

Until yesterday, Elena had zero mobility. It was like having an infant with big lungs who could speak (read: scream). While Karen was trying to take a nap, the kids were in the basement watching a show. When I heard some hysterical giggling, I went down there to investigate, and found Elena had crawled out of her chair and over to the base of the stairs. She was very proud of herself. She then proceeded to climb the stairs and traversed the entire house to ruin Karen's nap.

Karen had her book club meeting today, so I was on kid duty. I conned my brother into helping me take the kids fishing. We had a great time, and Elena even managed to catch two fish at once!

I'm not a big Facebook poster, but I did post this picture an hour ago. It already has 36 likes and 8 comments. Seriously people, get a hobby!!!

We would like to thank everyone who has helped us get through the past week. We actually cooked dinner for the first time since the surgery tonight (although we have more meals from friends in the freezer). Our friends and family are the best! Thank you!

I did some internet research prior to her surgery trying to see what we should expect over the next 6 weeks. I really couldn't find much information posted in the form of personal stories. Since this blog is publicly available, I hope other anxious parents will read this and realize that it really isn't that bad.

Also, FYI, if your kid goes through this, we have found that going to the bathroom and car seat issues really aren't that big of a deal once you get some practice. Elena will be going back to school tomorrow, and she fits in her normal car seat. She did not fit in a normal car seat after her first surgery, so I think it varies depending upon how the cast is shaped.

Keywords: spica cast; hip osteotomy surgery, 5 year-old, body cast, expectations, recovery, hip dysplasia,

Elena Surgery Update

 

Today Elena had a hip osteotomy surgery. This is the girl who fuses fashion and function so seamlessly ( see pic above). Yesterday the weather was great, so we made the best of her last mobile day for a while. After I picked the kids up from school/daycare, we went to the park to enjoy the mid-70's temps. Here is a super-quick video of her swinging:

 

We then went out for dinner, including ice cream for dessert.  Karen and Marcus left early due to a potty training emergency. Once they left, we talked about her surgery. I asked if she was scared, and her general thoughts on the surgery. I swear she aged 20 years during our talk. She said she was a little scared, but she knew she would be fine. She talked about how she would get around in a wheelchair and read lots of books. 

This morning we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am. Elena was really good about getting up early and heading in. She even gave her Grampy a big hug when he showed up to watch Marcus at 4:45 this morning. Everything was really cool until we had to dress her in her hospital gown. She said, "I don't like it! It's blah, blah, blah! I hate astronauts! The stars are supposed to be yellow, not red!" 

Once we got her dressed, the St. Lukes Staff took over. They were great. They really have the routine figured out when it comes to kids.

Here are the surgery details... Elena's first surgery pulled her hip joints into place, but her right hip socket never developed normally. Basically, it's too flat, or vertical. The hip socket doesn't have anywhere to rest. You can't notice it from her activity level, but the doctor said she will have degenerative issues early in life if we don't address it.

So the focus of the surgery is to force the hip socket to form normally. The surgeon fractured her pelvis above the hip joint and added a piece of wedge-shaped bone to change the angle of the hip joint. Here is an image of the separation he made prior to adding the bone graft.

 Here is a very tired mommy.

 ....and the girl who wouldn't sleep in the hospital bed.

She will have to deal with a full-body cast for the next 6 weeks. It basically goes from nipples to heel on her right side. The doctor said she isn't supposed to walk until the cast is taken off.

Easter

I have been remiss in posting our Easter story.

I should start off by letting you know The Boy is famous:
http://www.owyheepublishing.com/PhotoGalleries/indexMain3.php?id=63

The kids did an egg hunt in Marsing. Marcus won a basket almost as big as him and got his picture published in the local paper. Here are some pics from the Marsing Easter Egg Hunt.

 

 

 The kids had a great time decorating Easter Eggs.

Here is a sister selfie taking during the event:

We had a nice brunch with both of our families. Recently, Luis broke one of our chairs (Twice). As you can see, he had a special chair for the event, including Elena's hand-made name tag. We had a great meal and I was too hungry to get many pictures.

 Uncle Frank even made a cameo appearance:

 

This year we took a different approach to egg hunting. Each of the four kids had an assigned egg color to find. It actually worked out really well. They certainly gained some team-building skills searching for eggs. When we were nearly done collecting eggs, we did a count and we where one short.  Fourteen people searched for the missing egg for a good ten minutes. As we gathered around to discuss giving up, guess who came running up with the missing egg? Yes, the two-year-old. The egg was sitting in a watering can right in the middle of where we were all gathered. Go figure...