Well, we've made it to Baltimore for Ethan's superhip II surgery. He is in with Dr. Paley now and we hope to have more news by this afternoon (unless they keep updating us like they've already done once today). So far all is well.
If anyone has anything to share that may be of help for dealing with a cranky 3 year old after surgery I'd love to hear it! Also, any other info. anyone wants to share on recovery is appreciated.
Thanks!
Beth
Surgery
Hello Beth
My daughter had the Van surgery when she was three. She will be 7 in August. She was in a body cast for 2 months. The recovery process was hard on all of us. She hated the cast and cried frequently. One thing that I would advise you is to be very patient. It will be very trying time. She has only had one other surgery after then. Be blessed and you will be in my prayers.
Tye
Best luck!!
Hi, i am very happy for Ethan and hope everything is fine, keep updating us about his surgery, God bless him!!
I have a question for you, my son has PFFD (he is 6 months old), he has short femur that is the only problem for him so our option is lenghtening but our doctor is not doing the surgery until he is 7-8 years old. He says that they dont want to mess up his leg's growth. But we know that Dr. Paley is performing surgery age 3. I would like to know why he is doing it that early, I mean we trust Dr. Paley he is one of the best doctors we know, i got his name from his student in Europe first time and we will see Dr. Paley for sure. We don't want to wait 7 more years if we can get the surgery earlier than that. What is the reason for doing it early, if you have any information it will be very helpful. Thank you so much and best luck to you all!!
Ethan's surgery went well
Ethan's surgery went well despite a change in plans due to complications with the femur that did not show up in earlier testing. He is now out of the hosptial and with home with us. We'll return to Baltimore in 2 weeks for follow up post op appt.
In terms of why Dr. Paley does it so early I can't say for 100% sure. I know we talked about kids ability to accept the surgery psychologically and emotionally at different ages (some ages are better than others). Also, I would assume that it may have to do with the fact that depending on the length needed to acheive equal limbs the number of surgeries can be more easily spaced out over time and allow the bone to heal. Does anyone know for 100% sure the exact reasons? I'm just throwing this out based on conversations I'd had, but I never asked this question specifically.
Starting treatment by age 3...
From what we understand if you wait too long to correct some of the issues that PFFD presents there can be other problems later. By correcting any instability in the Hip/Knee and straightening the "bend" in the thigh bone early you can prevent any long term damage caused by the misalignment. There are other things too like scoliosis that can happen when your pelvis and leg movements are out of line. That and joints in the knee and ankle can develop differently over the years due to the mis-alignment that may not be able to be corrected later either. We also had our own concerns about waiting too long to start lengthening and letting the length discrepancy get too large so each surgery didn't seem like a major success. Also our little McKenna doesn't even remember the first two surgeries, which in our mind is a major bonus. McKenna started her surgeries young, and is now 10 years old, and two lengthenings and one super hip later she is doing just fine. I guess every doctor has a different opinion on what the best treatment plan is that will work for each case. In our minds we figured that if we had everything done by the time McKenna reached her teen years that would be the most helpful. Also we wanted someone with a proven track record specifically with PFFD, and we still think Dr. Paley and his team are the best.
Chuck
Ethans surgery
Its so funny because I was just getting ready to post the same question that you posted about Ethan. My 3 and a half year old son Romie is going in at 7am in the morning for his super hip surgery at Shriners with Dr McCarthy and I am so so so nervous and worried about everything. I would really like someone to share their experience of what the after effects are like and give us the heads up on what to be prepared for. I think I will still post my question as well It wont hurt.
As far as any info I can offer I know that its going to be 6 to 8 weeks in the spica cast which basically makes our summer plans almost non existent. I dont think he will be able to sit up because the cast will have his body at an 85 degree level so he will need propping up all the time. I also realize that my son is fully potty trained but now he will have to go back to diapers for the time being and I dont think he will like that very much because he loves to run to the bathroom, so that may be an issue. Im also worried about the heat and him being put in such a large cast because it is like 90 degrees here in new york and I dont want him to be super hot. I can go on and on but I guess we will have to take it day by day. I hope that you keep us posted on Ethans recovery I definitely will keep you posted on any info that I get, best wishes to you guys.
Ethan ended up having a
Ethan ended up having a rotationplastly rather than superhip as his hip was not as they expected it to be so his recovery will be different than your little one, but I can definitely sympathize with the heat and the loss of potty training. It is driving Ethan nuts!
End all be all Ethan is doing well and there have been no complications to date.
Thanks for the wishes and I hope all goes well for Romie.
Please update us on how
Please update us on how Ethan is doing, He is still in my prayers.