It's Gonna Be A Hot One!

Sitting in The Children's Hospital waiting room is a humbling experience. This is especially true when your child is only getting a cast change. As Christian and I waited for Grace's procedure to be completed, we saw many families sitting along side us waiting for news from the doctors. After observing a couple of families being called back into the conference room to talk to the doctor, Christian said to me, "I don't ever want to be called into the conference room." I agree. They don't call you in there for good news.

I know it isn't good to let someone else's pain create gratitude but that is how I felt sitting there. I was flooded with an enormous feeling of gratefulness for the health of my family and empathy for those other families who aren't so lucky.

Grace's procedure on Thursday went great. The only hiccup was a two hour delay past her scheduled surgery start time. Even though Grace hadn't eaten for hours she stayed perfectly calm. She really is a chilled out kid. If I had not birthed this child, I would think that she didn't belong to me.

The surgeon had said to me a few times after meeting with Grace that this was the beginning of a long relationship. I have not known how to take this and finally asked the question that I wanted to know. Did she tell everyone with hip dysplasia this or did she see something unique with Grace's case that led her to say that. Thankfully, this is a routine statement and not a reflection of Grace's specific case. Regardless of how the cast works Grace will return at least once a year throughout her childhood to monitor her progress.

After the surgery when the doctor came out to talk with us she had good news. Grace's left hip that prior to casting would fall out of the socket stayed in when she removed the cast. This is good news. It means the cast is working. Our doctor did not try and pop the hip out of socket but did pull Grace's leg down and the hip stayed in place. Hallelujah!

Also, I am sure they tell all parents this who have children with casts in decent shape but our surgeon said that Grace's cast was one of the cleanest she has ever seen. I needed to hear this. All of my crazy, OCD cast care worked. It provided validation that we are doing a good job in this tough situation.

Grace will remain in her current cast for six weeks. I will be calling on Tuesday to schedule the appointment to remove her cast and we will be counting down the days. After her cast is removed she will be placed in a rhino brace full-time for at least two weeks. We will be able to remove this for washing and diaper changes. She will then be weaned off the brace over a few months.

Our biggest challenges of the next six weeks are keeping Grace cool and Jack entertained. It is going to be a long, hot summer.

Overall I feel very blessed. We are all hanging in there and looking forward to the end of this. Please continue to pray that Grace's hips heal and that when we are finished with this course of action, we will be done. Or as we said when we were leaving the operating room area on Thursday, we don't ever want to have to be back there again.

Thank you all for loving our family and keeping us in your thoughts!