19 December 2006

they don't swivel like Elvis's, but they don't hurt anymore

So, its kinda, sorta been awhile. My last couple of posts were rather sparsely worded, and they've been far and few between. Then again, y'all know I've had stuff.

At a time frame of nearly two weeks ago, Sprout finally underwent a procedure on her bothersome right hip. I spent the summer waiting for test results hoping for an option aside from cutting the top of her femur off. No, really. Such a procedure would leave her unable to assist in transfers or dressing, and unable to toilet. I'm assuming you see the problems with this.

We ended up going to St. Elizabeth's Hospital to have a Shriner's procedure (they came down here to do some things). They poked her in the thigh with one needle to give her a local, then slid a gigantic needle in, alongside her femur.. I watched it live on the screen behind her head. It was creepy to see all of the hardware in there twisting around while they rotated the joint to get to the sweet spot. Once in, her hip was loaded up with steroids and painkillers.

She's been having a marked (and amazing) decrease in pain since the procedure. Hopefully we can use this to buy some time (like say.. until she's 22 and has stopped growing) until she can possibly be considered for hip replacement.

Yay for Sprout's hip.

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