Post by alisonzmom on Dec 23, 2007 11:48:52 GMT -5
You asked if we had tried any other things for Alison's hips before going to the Spica cast......
After being told that the ONLY thing that would help her was to put her thru a 6-8 hour surgery to shorten the ligaments in and around her hips, we made a road trip or two or three for other opinions. Doc down in Pittsburgh said surgery was probably the best option as casting doesn't usually work well on our kids since their ligaments tend to naturally be very loose. Doc at Strong Memorial in Rochester, NY said casting was iffy, surgery would do the trick BUT he'd also seen a fair number of our kids go through the surgery only to end up back at square one after a couple of years. Docs at Children's in Boston said they would recommend trying the casting for 4-6 months since it was the least invasive route. There would still be the possibility that she would need surgery down the road but was well worth the effort.
After all the road trips, I set up a conference call between the docs in Boston, the Doc here and myself. After all was said and done, Alison's doc here agreed to try the casting and has been in contact all along with the docs in Boston. They have really worked well together, luckily for us!
As things stand now with 1 week 5 days until the last cast comes off (not that I'm counting mind you!!!), the casting has greatly improved although not completely corrected the problem. Only time will tell if she will have to go thru the long surgery or go thru another series of casts. The docs have said that was a possibility all along so if it happens at least I know that I tried to do the least disruptive and invasive alternative first.
Good luck with that adorable little guy of yours!!! I know you'll do what's best for Justin.
Barb
After being told that the ONLY thing that would help her was to put her thru a 6-8 hour surgery to shorten the ligaments in and around her hips, we made a road trip or two or three for other opinions. Doc down in Pittsburgh said surgery was probably the best option as casting doesn't usually work well on our kids since their ligaments tend to naturally be very loose. Doc at Strong Memorial in Rochester, NY said casting was iffy, surgery would do the trick BUT he'd also seen a fair number of our kids go through the surgery only to end up back at square one after a couple of years. Docs at Children's in Boston said they would recommend trying the casting for 4-6 months since it was the least invasive route. There would still be the possibility that she would need surgery down the road but was well worth the effort.
After all the road trips, I set up a conference call between the docs in Boston, the Doc here and myself. After all was said and done, Alison's doc here agreed to try the casting and has been in contact all along with the docs in Boston. They have really worked well together, luckily for us!
As things stand now with 1 week 5 days until the last cast comes off (not that I'm counting mind you!!!), the casting has greatly improved although not completely corrected the problem. Only time will tell if she will have to go thru the long surgery or go thru another series of casts. The docs have said that was a possibility all along so if it happens at least I know that I tried to do the least disruptive and invasive alternative first.
Good luck with that adorable little guy of yours!!! I know you'll do what's best for Justin.
Barb
