Yay! More surgery for Mia!
Yes, it's true. And no, I'm not happy about it. Oh well.
Last week I took Mia to her orthopedic surgeon to get her X-rayed. She has been crying a lot when we move her, and it seems like her muscles never get looser even though we stretch her a lot. Her PT was mystified, because it seems like a lot of it is her overreacting to movement (which she does a lot), but obviously something was making her uncomfortable. He didn't think it was a muscle tear or a muscle caught in a bone joint or anything like that, because then she'd be in pain all the time, and she's not. So we figured it was time to take her to the doctor so he could look at her hips.
Well, the news wasn't great, but at least we know what it is now. Her right adductor muscles on the inside of her legs, which are very high in tone, are still causing problems. During her initial surgery, the doctor cut one of the muscles, and when he removed the plates on her hips in July, he cut another one. The remaining ones, however, are still strong enough to pull her leg across midline, which happens quite often. They're pulling so strongly that they're pulling her right hip out of its socket. This is, not surprisingly, causing her some distress. There's also a good bit of scar tissue in her groin that he wants to get rid of. He has to cut (he and Mia's PT use "release," which sounds less horrible but is also less descriptive) a tendon in her groin, clean up the scar tissue, and fix some of the hip capsule, which is the bone at the socket where the leg bone fits in (I love that it's called a "capsule"). He claims that the surgery will be on an outpatient basis, which is nice, but that she'll have to wear a Petrie cast for 3-4 weeks afterward. A Petrie cast is a cast on both legs with a bar in between them, keeping them abducted - wide apart. This is, presumably, to allow the bone to lodge further in the socket. He said there was no reason she would have to skip school, but of course her therapy will be set back once again. Sigh.
It has to be done, of course, but it's still frustrating. Krys was a bit angry at the doctor because this happened, but I think she has realized it's misplaced. He did cut two tendons and couldn't predict that her muscle tone is so high that it would pull the bone out of the socket. I just hope that cutting a third tendon will alleviate the adduction, because if it doesn't, she'll have to go back to the doctor to get yet another one "released" before this can happen again. I just wish we had caught this sooner so all he'd have to do is that and not mess with the hip, but I guess we know better. She was due for a follow-up appointment in March, and I plan to take her in much sooner after he takes the cast off just to make sure everything looks fine. It didn't seem like her muscles were pulling the leg so violently across midline, which is why we didn't think of it. I just thought she had been out of action, therapy-wise, for so long that her quadriceps had become insanely tight. It's frustrating because we can't ask Mia what's wrong, and it still doesn't seem like her hip is hurting her all that much. I suppose it was the same situation before her initial surgery, because her hips were in worse shape and she was still able to walk and stand without pain. We can never tell with Mia, because she doesn't often tell us if something hurts.
So it's back to the hospital, another delay in her therapy, more annoying issues with her general care (exactly how does one go to the bathroom while wearing a Petrie cast, anyway?), and potential problems with her eating. The last time she had outpatient surgery, nothing much happened to her appetite, which was nice. However, she's making a lot of progress in that area, and I don't want anything to compromise it. We'll just have to cross our fingers.
We haven't scheduled the surgery yet, but I hope it's soon. We'll see. I wouldn't mind doing it in early March, when she's on spring break, because then at least she can stay home for a week and recover just a bit. I don't completely trust the people at school to take great care of her, and if we can keep her at home without her missing any actual school days for a while and figure out how to care for her, I'd like that. Of course, if she goes in for surgery before that and we think it would be better for her to skip some school, I don't have a problem with that, either.
Yes, the fun never ends with Mia! She's just lucky she's so adorable, or we might have sold her to some wandering Gypsies by now!
Last week I took Mia to her orthopedic surgeon to get her X-rayed. She has been crying a lot when we move her, and it seems like her muscles never get looser even though we stretch her a lot. Her PT was mystified, because it seems like a lot of it is her overreacting to movement (which she does a lot), but obviously something was making her uncomfortable. He didn't think it was a muscle tear or a muscle caught in a bone joint or anything like that, because then she'd be in pain all the time, and she's not. So we figured it was time to take her to the doctor so he could look at her hips.
Well, the news wasn't great, but at least we know what it is now. Her right adductor muscles on the inside of her legs, which are very high in tone, are still causing problems. During her initial surgery, the doctor cut one of the muscles, and when he removed the plates on her hips in July, he cut another one. The remaining ones, however, are still strong enough to pull her leg across midline, which happens quite often. They're pulling so strongly that they're pulling her right hip out of its socket. This is, not surprisingly, causing her some distress. There's also a good bit of scar tissue in her groin that he wants to get rid of. He has to cut (he and Mia's PT use "release," which sounds less horrible but is also less descriptive) a tendon in her groin, clean up the scar tissue, and fix some of the hip capsule, which is the bone at the socket where the leg bone fits in (I love that it's called a "capsule"). He claims that the surgery will be on an outpatient basis, which is nice, but that she'll have to wear a Petrie cast for 3-4 weeks afterward. A Petrie cast is a cast on both legs with a bar in between them, keeping them abducted - wide apart. This is, presumably, to allow the bone to lodge further in the socket. He said there was no reason she would have to skip school, but of course her therapy will be set back once again. Sigh.
It has to be done, of course, but it's still frustrating. Krys was a bit angry at the doctor because this happened, but I think she has realized it's misplaced. He did cut two tendons and couldn't predict that her muscle tone is so high that it would pull the bone out of the socket. I just hope that cutting a third tendon will alleviate the adduction, because if it doesn't, she'll have to go back to the doctor to get yet another one "released" before this can happen again. I just wish we had caught this sooner so all he'd have to do is that and not mess with the hip, but I guess we know better. She was due for a follow-up appointment in March, and I plan to take her in much sooner after he takes the cast off just to make sure everything looks fine. It didn't seem like her muscles were pulling the leg so violently across midline, which is why we didn't think of it. I just thought she had been out of action, therapy-wise, for so long that her quadriceps had become insanely tight. It's frustrating because we can't ask Mia what's wrong, and it still doesn't seem like her hip is hurting her all that much. I suppose it was the same situation before her initial surgery, because her hips were in worse shape and she was still able to walk and stand without pain. We can never tell with Mia, because she doesn't often tell us if something hurts.
So it's back to the hospital, another delay in her therapy, more annoying issues with her general care (exactly how does one go to the bathroom while wearing a Petrie cast, anyway?), and potential problems with her eating. The last time she had outpatient surgery, nothing much happened to her appetite, which was nice. However, she's making a lot of progress in that area, and I don't want anything to compromise it. We'll just have to cross our fingers.
We haven't scheduled the surgery yet, but I hope it's soon. We'll see. I wouldn't mind doing it in early March, when she's on spring break, because then at least she can stay home for a week and recover just a bit. I don't completely trust the people at school to take great care of her, and if we can keep her at home without her missing any actual school days for a while and figure out how to care for her, I'd like that. Of course, if she goes in for surgery before that and we think it would be better for her to skip some school, I don't have a problem with that, either.
Yes, the fun never ends with Mia! She's just lucky she's so adorable, or we might have sold her to some wandering Gypsies by now!
posted by Greg at
7:21 PM
1 Comments:
As the French like to say, quelle bummer!
I feel very fortunate that Lydia's only had one surgery (removing her adenoids) and has only has one relatively minor concern (peanut allergy).
I certainly understand your wife's frustration. I've been in the same position with other (older) relatives, notably my father.
Stay strong.
By
Roger Owen Green, at 27/1/10 5:00 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home