The last few days have been a mixed bag of emotions. Erin (22months today) has had a late diagnosis of a hip problem. The week started off with a visit to the orthopedist on Monday, and I had to google the word first having never heard it before. There was a question mark over whether Erin was growing normally – there was a suggestion from a physio that one leg was 2cm longer than the other. Thankfully the orthopedist didn’t believe that it was a growth problem. Thursday saw us visiting the peadiatric consultant and he quickly agreed with the orthopedist and suspected it was a hip problem. Erin then went for an xray before we were sent home.
Friday saw me anxiously watching the time and the phone simultaneously and at 2.30 ish it finally rang. The pead consultant confirmed that Erin’s hip is the problem and she requires surgery and time in a spica cast afterwards. He was going to put in an urgent referral to the specialist who will be in touch with me soon.
After the call, I cried and felt devastated, today I am much more reflective, I have a zillion questions and no answers yet. Steps is a charity that called me yesterday and have already provided me with plenty of information and equipment lists. They made no bones about it – its going to be a long hard slog. The treatment needs to be looked at as taking a year. I am expecting about 12 weeks in a body cast followed by splints at night and extensive physio. This has been picked up very late and as such the treatment may well be more invasive.
I am going to use my blog to share our journey from this diagnosis through to the end. This post has been very factual but I am sure it will include rants and hopefully practical advice to others as we journey on.
4 Responses
Hugs, I don’t have any experience of this but I hope the journey goes well and that you both get lots of support, will be thinking of you x
Thank you, luckily we have great family and friends around us who will help us stay strong. xx
I’m so glad STEPS have got in contact with you. We had some concerns with Squeaky last year, and my GP pointed me in their direction. I spent the weekend away meaning to come back & give you their details, but they beat me to it.
Thanks hun, they were fab, providing us with an extensive list of equioment thats goingb to be needed and lots of emotional support.