...See Ya Cast!

I can't believe today finally arrived!  When this journey first started out, Dec. 6th seemed like forever and a day away.

Our day started this morning at 7:30am with both kids on the upstairs landing getting dressed!  Lauren rolling around trying to hug and kiss Brayden while Brayden was trying to roll away from her with a big smile across his face.  We got out the door and were on time for a chiropractor appointment for me in Yaletown and then we zipped over to our Dr's office for our little man's 4 month shots.  My Doctor's MOA is such a sweet person (she is leaving in a couple weeks and we are sad!), she politely asked me when our appointment was - I handed over the small white paper with the appointment time and, ouch, the wrong date.  She was wonderful enough to squeeze us in and for that I was very grateful - to try and get two kids (both not walking) out the door, on time and to the Dr's again isn't easy!

Brayden had his check up and everything is looking great with his hips so far; however he will be re checked at 14 months because most likely this is something that is hereditary.  We were blown away when we weighed him - 16pd 1oz, my little guy likes his food!!  So, 90th percentile for height, 75th for weight and 50th for head!  Our little man handled the shots pretty good, it only took a minute for him to calm down and get back to normal.  I thank God for such an easy going baby - he has been such a blessing to our family!

Our appointment at the Ortho Clinic was for 1pm.  We expected that Lauren would be x-rayed and then sent to have her cast removed; however, we were quickly advised that the cast was coming off NOW!   I carried my baby girl down the hospital hallway for the last time in that bright pink, hard fibreglass cast!  It was now just a matter of time before that rigid bothersome cast was gone.  The tears started as soon as I placed Lauren in the bed, she was not a happy camper.  Garry and I tried to calm our little girl as the saw cut through the hard, pink fibreglass.  I'll never forget the look on her face when she saw the blade coming towards her, she yelled, cried and just shook in fear.  Garry and I on the other hand were excited for this moment (although not easy to watch our baby that upset, it is all for a good reason).  We both couldn't believe how fast the cast came off, with a few lines cut and the big tools used to separate and break the cast off, it only took about 10mins in total.  I was over joyed when the Dr said it was time to pick Lauren up and hold her!  My little girl was free from that thing, I couldn't believe how tiny and light she really was to hold!  It felt great to hug her little body!!!!

Now, we had the "joy" of getting Lauren x-rayed.  We needed a good x-ray for the Dr and apparently it is much more clear if there isn't a cast on; however, it may be more clear - but Lauren sure put up a good fight on the x-ray table!  She did NOT want to be strapped to that x-ray board.  Although it is hard to hear your little one fighting and crying on the x-ray table ~ It was also easy, this was now the end of the casting journey for us and we now got to see what all of our hard work has meant!

The Surgeon came through to see us once we were back in the clinic.  He was able to bring up Lauren's first x-ray from Aug 4th that showed us that the hip was indeed completely out of the socket and then he proceeded to show us the one from today, where her hip is back in the socket.  He then went on to tell us that he was impressed with the femur growth - there has been a lot of new growth.  Which to us is great news, that means that most likely the blood supply has not been impacted during the surgery.  The second great piece of news is that when Lauren first had her operation her bad hip and pelvic bone were at a 43 degree angle, today, after being casted for 12 weeks she has now gone down to a 38 degree angle - that is 5 degrees in 12 weeks - that is wonderful news.  However, we still have a ways to go, that angle should be below 30 degrees.  So now we wait and pray for more growth in the socket, for continued blood supply and for the femur to continue growing normally.  What a great feeling to know that all of the hard work, tears and stress has paid off.  We were then advised that we need to head to Grandview Hwy to have her fitted in a Rhino Cruiser, Garry and I had no idea, we thought that the hospital would do this in the clinic.  But, we decided to go right away, we didn't want Lauren to get used to having her legs free and as well, she has been told not to walk without the brace - so the sooner the better.

We were met with a very friendly face at Ortho Dynamics.  The lady that helped us was amazing.  She was like the bright light we needed, she answered so many questions and really just put our minds at ease as to how long this part of the journey is going to be - we really needed that smiley face and good advice!

Lauren was fitted with what they call a rhino cruiser.  She will now wear this brace 24/7, unless swimming or in the bath.  And, we are going to live by those rules the Surgeon has given us as we are told that the more she has the brace on, the faster the healing is! :)  And as I said to Garry, that if her body is now working 100% to fix her hip, bones etc, let's just ride the wave and let it do it's thing.  The body knows what needs to be done and Lauren's little body has just responded to all of this so well - we don't want to ruin it!

So, we still aren't out of the woods yet, we are again just continuing to pray that she won't need the next surgery; however we won't know more until about her 3rd birthday.  Right now all we can do is listen to the surgeon's advice, pray for quick healing and make sure both Lauren and Brayden are well loved (and that they are)! Our next visit to see how things are going is in mid February.  :)

All in all, it was a good news day.  I still hate not knowing how long this journey is going to be, if she is going to heal and not require any further "help" from the surgeon and also if Brayden is 100% ok because again, it is developmental.

But out of all of this craziness we have met some pretty amazing people.  Lauren now has a wonderful IDP consultant that has just been amazing!  We now have Lauren in the IDP school on Monday's and Thursday and so far she seems to be loving it!  We have been wait listed for physio and are really hoping to be picked up in the beginning of the new year.  And, above all, there have been some family positives out of all of this -- Garry and I have spent the last 4 months together with our two kids full time!  Not many parents can say that they had an opportunity to be home together as a family for that long!  Although our time together is coming to a close as Garry will be returning to work in Jan, it has been wonderful to have him here and be a part of the kids everyday lives!  He is a wonderful Dad!!

Well, I sign off while listening to Lauren play in her crib - she is talking on her hand phone, while holding her baby.  Her little language is hilarious!

Good night!