Apr 5, 2010

Hip X-Rays and Recovery

We met with the surgeon post-surgery. Over all he was happy with the result. Her hip sockets were so shallow and had to be rotated so much that they couldn't use her own bone because they needed too big of wedges to fill in the "gap". So they used donor bone. That's good with me since it leaves that part of her hips intact. If you look really hard you can see the chunks of donor bone. It's so wedged in there that they didn't need the 4" pins. That's good with me too. They also used some of the leg bone that they removed from the femoral osteotomies. The following picture shows her "before" hips on the left and the "after" hips on the right.  The hip sockets should surround the top of the leg bone. You can see in the post-surgery x-ray that they cut and rotated her hips and they are now in better alignment over the femur. The left hip (shown on the right) is not quite completely covering the head of the femur. But he thinks it will do. (There is a 15-20% of failure or that she could need further hip work.)  You can see the plates that reconnect the femur. Those will stay unless she developes a problem with them in which case they can be surgically removed. 

 

The nurse was concerned that Ainsley was oversedated but the anesthesiologist on call just checked her out. Basically the epidural has made her so comfortable that she's taking a power nap, and some of the anesthesia is still in effect. She looks great! The cast is not as wide as we expected. It seems narrower than it was last time, when she was only a year old.  Things could change but I think she's actually going to be fairly comfortable when she wakes up, which is a huge relief.

7 comments:

  1. Yes, she does look great. And that would be awesome if she wasn't as uncomfortable as expected! I hope everything turns out okay, and that no further work is necessary. Well, at least in that area! Thanks for the updates and I'm looking forward to see how she did through the night.

    Hugs,
    Christy

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  2. I really hope that she waked up happier than we all anticipated! She looks wonderful in that big girl bed!! Hang in there momma, the beginning of the journey is often the steepest, but eventually you get to go downhill!!! Give her a hug from the Hogan kids :)

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  3. did I really just say "waked up"???Oh my it is late...I do know that proper grammer is "woke up"...good for a late night laugh!

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  4. wow her surgery hcame so fast!! way to go Aisley !! the xrays look good!!!!she is such a rock star!!! We will be keeping you all in our prayers as she recovers!! sending our love! wyndi steven and Izzy

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  5. Glad things went well. Hope you can get some rest tonight knowing that the surgery is over and that Ainsley is resting comfortably. Hugs.

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  6. Hope things continue to go well!

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  7. She looks great!
    She looks peaceful in this image, I just want to hug her. Freaking crap over all she has to ge through. Lemonade right?!

    Amazing about the donor bone....technology is incredible and in this sense we are so incredible lucky!

    I hope you both recover quickly!

    All the love in the universe from me to you.

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