Lucy had her surgery yesterday and it was a very long and emotional day. We got to the hospital for check-in around 7am and she didn't head back to the operating room until around 10am. We got to sit with her while they started anesthesia and were able to kiss her goodbye in the operating room. The wait was long but our surgical nurse called us about every hour and a half to let us know how the surgery was going. After about 7 hours, the doctor came out to share how the surgery went. Overall, he said that he thought that the surgery went well. They were able to do a closed reduction on the right side and get the hip in the socket; however, the left side wasn't as lucky. He informed us that the head of her femurs are not normal. Her left one is not formed correctly and is not rounded like a femur head is supposed to be. He said that he assumes something happened to her because this type of malformation happens when a child is neglected. It is possible that she could have had an infection or virus that wasn't treated as a baby in the orphanage and it caused her femurs to develop this way. We will never know what happened to her in that first year of life and are very upset to hear this news. Due to the shape, the doctor could not make a clean fit into the socket by an open reduction. His hope is that the femur begins to change shape a little as she recovers in the spica cast. After surgery we had an MRI and the doctor was very pleased and said that her hip was much deeper in the socket than he had thought in the operating room, so we are happy to hear that news. As this will take time to heal, he also told us that she will need an additional 6 weeks in the spica cast, which will put her at a total of 18 weeks :(. So it looks like she will get the cast off just before her birthday in mid April.
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| Looking for her surgeon |
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| playing in the activity room before surgery |
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| I've got this! |
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| In recovery - so sad |
It was a very long night last night in the hospital - she had a lot of pain and itching from the surgery and medication. She slept on and off throughout the night but cried a lot. Mom and dad cried too. Such an emotional weight is on your heart as a parent watching your child cry in pain and not able to move in a full body cast. Today, we were told that there is some concern that her diaper is wet even though she has a catheter, so we have been waiting to hear from urology all day - we just heard and they said that her bladder is spasming and we are not to worry. We are so thankful that it is positive news - We've been very emotional... so it was much needed.
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| finally in her room showing off the bow they made her for her spica cast. They also cut a hole out for her belly...because we all know how much she loves to eat :) |
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| mama and Lucy - she's eating jello and LOVING it |
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| Daddy helping her through the pain |
On another positive note, we went to the cardiologist on Monday and he said that all of the issues that Lucy had in her heart when she was born have fixed on their own and her heart is normal!!
Please continue to pray that everything goes well as we spend one more night at the hospital and transition to home. We just wish Lucy the best and hope that everything moves in a positive direction as she recovers. She is such a strong, beautiful, resilient girl and we love her so much...and want the best for her.
And...if you have prayers and energy left over, please send it our way, we are struggling a little.
Thanks to everyone for the support! Our dinner is coming up next friday if you would like to attend click
here to sign up & if you can't attend, but would like to support Lucy's recovery, click
here
