Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Day Before Surgery...
The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions and phone calls waiting for a surgery date from the hospital, but since they called yesterday to give us the time all of at once it started feeling like now it is all happening too fast! I'm ready to get the process started, sooner in the cast the sooner out, but how 'ready' am I really. The last couple weeks has been a bitter sweet dance of enjoying all the little things that will be gone for a while, bath time, all the cute outfits with leggins and pants, snuggling super close while nursing...now today it feels like the last of a lot and I'm really grieving the loss of all the little things she loves. Yes, I know we'll have them in new forms, we'll do them again 'normally' in a few months but right now I'm so sad and scared. I don't want her to have to do any of this! She just started crawling, loves to dance and stand and it is like this secret that she doesn't know, that all of those little things are being changed. I'm worried about the next few days. How will she feel? How will we deal? When will things feel normal and what will be normal?
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You couldn't have described the feelings and emotions during this "waiting" period more perfectly. Our almost 12 month old baby girl is scheduled for her surgery on 11th August and I am feeling exactly how you have described. Thanks for taking the time to share your story. I just read your entry about the day of surgery and the reality of it all has brought tears streaming down my face. Even so, reading right through your blog has helped me to feel so much more positive about the journey that we are about to start.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad my blog helped in some way, that was all I could hope for. I know how hard this is and the waiting was for me the worst part. If I can help in any way please don't hesitate. I remember the fears and worries I had just like it was yesterday, but if it helps you to know that over all the process wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. Mabel adjusted much quicker than I did, but I did adjust too, and over all she was always her sweet little self - that was what I wanted. I marveled everyday at how strong she was and determined - she learned to crawl and roll in that spica! It is a hard process, but it will get easier each day and you and your little girl will do great. Good luck with your hip journey and keep me posted.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your kind and supportive response. Our little girl developed a cold only a few days before her surgery and so we have been rescheduled for the 25th August. It was so odd on Wednesday night to think that if it weren't for her cold (and as it turns out my cold and a resulting middle ear infection for me!), we would have been in the hospital with our little girl recovering from surgery in her cast. Somehow it just made it all a little too real and now we have to go through that difficult build up period again. I do believe though that everything happens for a reason and the 11th August just wasn't meant to be her surgery date.
ReplyDeleteWe have been told that our little girl will not be allowed any tummy time whilst in her cast for the 12 weeks, so my hopes of her relearning to commando crawl won't be an option. The good news though is that if all goes well, she surgeon does not plan for her to wear a brace once she is out of her cast. I was so surprised by that news that it kind of made up for the no tummy time news. I guess you have to take the silver lining wherever you can find it when faced with these kinds of challenges. :-)
We also learned at a follow up appointment that her surgery may need to go as far as a pelvic osteotomy, which really surprised me given that she is only 12 months old. The surgeon won't know until the day, so I hope and pray that he is able to do a closed reduction, or an open reduction at worst. I guess that's the thing with this journey...it's so full of ups and downs and twists and turns that you just have to take it one step at a time and deal with each thing as it comes up. Reading right through your blog, I certainly found that it seemed to be that way for you too.
I hope that your little girl is moving ahead in leaps and bounds and thanks again for the lovely response to my message.
Donna, I'll be thinking of you and your family. I hope that your daughter's surgery day goes as well as it can and that you can get on the path to healing. The amount of information that the doctors give you before surgery is beyond overwhelming and scary. I'm so sorry to hear that they have giving you the scary word of a possible pelvic osteotomy - I can only imagine your fears, I myself was terrified of the open reduction. The doctors certainly do give you the worst case, so hopefully once they start the closed reduction will be all they need to do. I pray what ever procedure your daughter needs to correct her hip it goes quickly. You have the right perspective on this, it is defiantly a roller coaster ride, but don't worry you will get through it and you will, believe it or not, laugh along the way. I'm sure that your little girl will learn to do all kinds of amazing things in that spica even without tummy time! You'll be amazed by her I promise - you'll also amaze yourself. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need any support as you make your journey. I hope you find a little comfort in knowing that somone out there will be sending you healing thoughts and knows exactly how you feel right now.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to give you a quick update to let you know that our little girl had her open reduction over 12 weeks ago now. She spent 6 weeks in her cast and was scheduled for a cast change and another six weeks in a cast. Due to her skin breaking down under the cast though, she was changed to a rhino cruiser brace at her cast change and has continued to progress well. She has not been allowed any tummy time in either the cast or the brace and the brace cannot be removed even for nappy changes!
ReplyDeleteThankfully at our next appointment with the surgeon on Monday, it is likely that our little girl will be allowed to be brace free during the day! I am excited, nervous and scared all at once, but it will be another step closer to a happy, healthy hip for our little girl.
Thanks so much for the kind words and support in your replies above. It really made a difference. I have been checking in on your other blog from time to time and I am so glad to see that Mabel is doing so well. :-)