SHOCK....but no awe!

So...fast forward to Bailey's 8th birthday and the start of her 3rd grade year.  We visited the surgeon for her followup...we had no idea of the news he would deliver.  She still did not have good coverage of the femoral head and would require additional surgery.  For the past 6 years, we had been seeing the surgeon on a "self-pay" basis because he no longer took our insurance.  He told us there was no way he would be able to perform the surgery and ask us to "self-pay".  He referred us to a doctor at Shriner's Hospital in Houston. It certainly took lots of effort to get her into that hospital, but with the help of the surgeon and my Uncle Lloyd (a Shiriner) we were able to meet the doctor that specialized in this type of surgery.  So here we go again! 




Bailey just chillin...before surgery date


This time, they shortened the femur, rotated the pelvis and basically "shoved" the femur into the socket.  They put enough hardware in to make any handy man green with envy.  After an agonizing week in the hospital and a brief stint of me on my knees begging her to try to get out of bed , we were finally able to come home.

  I was a mess during this surgery...Bailey was older and knew what was going on and she was FREAKING OUT! I was trying to be strong for her and not let her know that I was worried.  My solution? Grit and grind my teeth...this was not smart...I left the hospital with a broken jaw...  I told no one about it...I had work to do! I had to be super mom! This job description looks much easier on paper! In reality, when you are having to lift a kiddo that weighs nearly as much as you do, there are a few problems...one of them being a hernia! OH! What I mess I was!

She recovered in her wheel chair...no weight bearing for 6 weeks.  She then went to a walker and later a cane.   She didn't return to school, she was taught by a home bound teacher that the district provided.  She did some rehab at Shriners and more in our pool over the summer and prepared herself for her 4th grade year.  Fourth grade was interrupted briefly with her getting the hardware removed.

None too happy with the photo op, or in spending the next 6 weeks in this chair!

Once again, with each return visit over the next 3 years we were told she was looking good...   I was so confident in fact that on her last followup to Shriner's I let her Dad take her and I went to work.  Once again, I got that call "...it's not good..."  So! Here we are, present day.  The doctors at Shriner's feel this surgery is beyond their scope so we are back at Texas Children's with a new surgeon.  Bailey is set for her biggest surgery yet a PAO (peracetabular osteotomy).  The hope is to give her as much of a normal hip as possible before she has to begin hip replacements.  Her surgery is scheduled for January 6, 2012.  The posts that follow this one will be from both Bailey and me.  We appreciate your support and your continued prayers.