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.