August 25, 2008

Hip Spica Cast

We decided that it may be worth a try to put on a cast. Matt and I were able to pray & discuss this new information on Thursday night and we came to the conclusion that we did not have enough information to make an informed decision. Friday morning I contacted a few of Whitney's specialists in town to get more thoughts on the matter. They all responded very quickly and by mid afternoon it was quite apparent to us as to what decision we should make. The possible pros seemed to outweigh the cons. We are thankful we had to weekend to process this and come to accept the facts.

Our appointment was at 8:30 this morning at the doctor's office. Usually they bring children to the hospital to sedate them but they thought Whitney would be calm enough. She did a great job. We picked out a purple cast and got started. I did have to pull a few tricks out to keep her occupied. Thankfully I did not have to use my emergency trick which would have been to sing. There was the doctor, 2 nurses, and I assisting in the process. It probably would have been a great picture. I brought Whitney's AFO's along and the doctor was willing to stop the cast just above her knee so that she could still use them at night. They also used a gortex liner which looked like a shower curtain when they were putting it on. This will help tremendously if we have any blowout diapers. I need to frequently change her diaper to keep things as dry as possible. She has a smaller size diaper stuffed into the cast with a larger one over top of the cast to hold it all together. I was thankful to discover that she is able to wear an 18 month onesie over top. She is currently in 9 month clothes so, we made a big size jump today. The doctor took an x-ray before we left to check if the hip was in the correct location and it was. We will have another x-ray next week to check again. Please pray that it remains in place and the body will begin to accept it there. Meanwhile my mother-in-law was helping get a special car seat installed in our van while my father-in-law took care of Fiona at home. It all worked out very well and within 2 hours we were headed home with a tired little girl.

It seems that additional care for her will include, frequent diaper changes, changing body position every two hours to eliminate sores, bathing, and transporting her as she is now very awkward to hold and carry.

She is currently taking a nap with her sister and hopefully will begin to accept her new 'outfit'. Thank you for your prayers for us this weekend. We were a little stressed but I think this morning went better than expected and we feel peace about this decision.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a process! We were wondering how they would work a diaper. Thanks for all the info. - it gives us the specifics for what to pray for. So glad to hear that Whitney did well! God is so good:). Take care, Jack and Kim.

Anonymous said...

I also was wondering how that would all work. Praying for you all as I am sure this must be very difficult for the whole family. Wow, I can't believe she was so calm for that! Hang in there and take it one day at a time (or one minute, like I do!) Praying for you daily!

Laura

Anonymous said...

Matt and Susan,

I know this is such a difficult time for you! Our family will pray for your peace, and also that Whitney's body will accept the femur in its correct position.

To give you hope: Aria was in a body cast for 6 weeks following her nerve grafting surgery. I was terrified about everything you mentioned in your post. Mostly, I was terrified that our little girl would be miserable and I would be unable to comfort her. God is remarkable in His gifts - and children seem to overcome things much faster than their mommies and daddies! ;)

Aria did beautifully. Outside of a few episodes (that could have simply been teething!), Aria was happy and smiling. And, she absolutely adored all the extra attention she got during this time!

Hang in there, and stay strong. You have a whole community of believers lifting you up!

Mica and Daniel Hemingway (the mother you met at the Ronald McDonald House)