Interventions

Good day/bad day?: eh

Long day. But the upside is that at my OT appt, my R arm swelling was a lot less than I thought it would be. She said I was doing all the right things for it, that it was very expected that my arm would swell during radiation with all the inflammation in the area. I just have to keep working to loosen up my scar when my skin heals, be vigilant about intervening when I start to swell, and work on my shoulder range of motion and muscle movement.

Then back to work for a little while, and then off to the hospital for Olive's appt. And we had to wait over an hour before she was seen. An hour with a restless toddler without a nap=eternity.

So here's the deal. The ortho surgeon said that there really was no intervention short of surgery that would be enough to correct her hip. (To not intervene? Limp, and severe arthritis early in life...) The question he mulled over was how much remodeling of the joint to do at once--sometimes they do as much as they can in one surgery, sometimes they plan to go back in and do more correction at a later date. There are pros and cons to both approaches, and after thinking through his recommendations a few times he would go with the more remodelling in one surgery (it involves a little bone grafting to make an upper part of the hip socket). No date set yet for the surgery, but we're trying to get it done soon so she can be out of the cast by fall. Open reduction surgery, 1-2 nights in the hospital. 3 months of the spica cast, the version with the full right leg and the partial L leg (above the knee) that would go up to her ribcage. No magical answers there--it will be a lot to figure out, from sleeping to skin care to diapering to car seats to outfits.

Olive got to play with a baby doll in a spica cast. She wasn't a big fan at first but then had fun taking the diaper off & on...

There you have it! No "We were wrong about everything, it's fine." Damn.