First Hip Surgery March 17, 2009

Kate began the process of fixing her hips on March 17, 2009 at 6am. She will have both surgeries and any follow-up work completed by Dr. Kristen Carroll at Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT.We could not ask for a better surgeon or staff. Shriners is the best and they are so careful with kids.

After Kate got her diagnosis, we were referred to Shriners right away. There are no surgeons trained in this type of hip surgery in Idaho Falls. Shriners was the best choice, they specialize in orthopedics. We initially had a consult with Shriners in January and surgery scheduled on Presidents Day. Kate got sick (a cold) and after examining her they pushed the surgery to March 17, 2009. They like to see the kids really healthy before putting them under. Kate had to be intebated and any irritation to the throat or nose can cause infection or pneumonia.

The first picture is Mommy saying goodbye to Kate right before the surgery...a little sad and very scary for Mark and I.

Kate was in surgery a total of about 4 hours. They first put her under and inserted the IV'S. The hip surgery was next. They make an incision along the pelvic crease and open the leg to the bone. They clean out cartilage and push the hip bone up into socket. Then they cast the leg in the position they want. They use a spica cast (body cast with an angled bar to keep the legs apart and in the correct position). After the cast was finished, Kate went into recovery. She did really well in surgery. She lost very little blood and the hip went smoothly into socket. The surgeons were very pleased.

The next picture were taken right after Kate was brought back into the room from recovery.

Kate was in the hospital for a total of 4 days. She left on Friday March 20, 2009. Grammy M came from Ohio and met us in Salt Lake. Grandma and Grandpa Cleverley came with us and kept Bryce while we were in the hospital. Kate was actually really good in the hospital for having such a major surgery. She wanted her pacifer and sheepie tail all the time. She also liked to hold sippy cups. She got her appetite back about Thursday and ate well. She didn't sleep great at night, I spent most nights in the hospital bed with her. If I wasn't next to her she wanted to hold my hand. I would doze off and drop her hand and she would be right awake until I gave my hand back. I am sure it is really scary to be that little and in pain and not really know why. I feel better knowing that Mark and I will never forget the experience, but Kate will likely never remember it. It is comforting to know that her memories will be what we tell her.

These are a few of the pictures of Kate during her hospital stay.