No surgery today after all...

Well, late last night, we received a call from Kimi's Orthopedist.  He said he had been doing some more research and was having second thoughts about performing the hip surgery on Kimi today.  He went on to say the recent research showed evidence that in many children with Spina Bifida, performing the surgery to correct the hips might end up negatively affecting their long-term ability to walk.  In fact, many doctors are no longer doing the surgery on children with Spina Bifida for this reason.  When I asked about the possibility of arthritis as he had said, he said, that may not be an issue if she is going to lose the ability to walk in the short term due to "neurological decline".  We agreed it would be best if Kimi has an updated examination by her Neurosurgeon, so that he can assess the situation and then consult with the Orthopedist.  Also, he is going to order a "Gait Study" to determine if there is anything else that can be done to help her continue walking.  It is even possible, Kimi's hip sockets may continue to develop, allowing the femurs to better fit within the socket (this was news to me!).  So, the Neurosurgen's assessment, having the Gait Study done, both doctors consulting about it, and giving Kimi some more time to grow and walk, has now become the plan moving forward.  This could all change if the Neuro assessment and subseqent consultation results in a recommendation for surgery.  But, for now, there will be no hip surgery for Kimi in the next few months...and maybe, not for a couple of years.

It was all a LOT to digest!  But Dr. Kayes said  he still wanted to do an Arthrogram (joint x-ray with dye) on Kimi's hip joints.  So, she was anesthetized and taken for the test.   The doctor returned and said the right hip is actually much better than he thought!  It is actually pretty much in the socket!  He said the left hip is only slightly displaced - not completely displaced as he had previously thought, based on her x-ray.  So, he felt strongly that we need to hold off on the hip surgery for now, get this other information and then discuss a new plan moving forward.

I KNOW this is an answer to prayer, as so many prayed specifically that God would make it very clear whether we should subject Kimi to this procedure.  I had been praying for wisdom for us and for the surgeon.  And this is the first time I have ever had a surgeon call the night before a scheduled operation due to re-thinking the decision to move forward.  And then, to top it off, Kimi began running a 100 degree temp at the hospital!  So, I know we are doing the right thing for now.

Here is a photo of Kimi this morning shortly before the Arthrogram.  (She was given a sheet of Doc McStuffins' stickers and put them all over her surgical "jammies".)

Kimi is having hip surgery tomorrow.

Kimi will be having surgery tomorrow at St. Vincent's on both hips to correct her hip dysplasia.  For some background, when we adopted Kimi in February, 2011, her lower legs were EXTREMELY weak and she couldn't even raise her foot to take a step to walk forward.  She could sit with her legs in very unusual positions and could turn her left foot backwards!  After arriving home and having some tests done, we learned she had a badly tethered spinal cord, and needed some additional corrective surgery on her lower spinal cord area, that had not been done while she lived in China. 

The spinal surgery was done in May, 2011 and provided her with nerve sensation all the way down to her feet, per the Neurosurgeon.  Subsequently, we also had Kimi fitted with AFOs (ankle/foot orthotics) to make her ankles more stable.  With healing and practice, she began to walk using a reverse walker. 

Eighteen months after her sugery, in October, 2012, she began walking independently; although she still fell sometimes.  So, as of today, she has only been walking one year.  Her original Orthopedist at Riley Hospital told us in 2011 that she had hip dysplasia in both hips (the hips are slightly out of the sockets).  He was very discouraging about her ability to ever walk.  We began to see a different Orthopedist in 2012 that was highly recommended.  When we went to see him last Spring and he saw her walk independently across the room, he stated he had concerns about the walking causing stress to her hip joints which would ultimately result in arthritis in both hips.  He recommended surgery to fix the hip dysplasia.  He said her hips and femurs would need to be broken in order to position them correctly in the joints.  They would also use plates and screws to keep everything in place, that would need to be surgically removed later.  He also diagnosed a hip socket deformity on her left side that allowed her left foot to turn backwards.  He wanted to correct that also.  He said she would be in a Spica cast (body cast) for 3-6 weeks post-surgery, and would have to learn to walk again, which could take up to one year!

I had a difficult time accepting the idea of putting her through all of that...especially the part about temporarily taking away her ability to walk!  But then, late this summer, we began to see Kimi falling more and walking less.  Her teachers noticed it, too.  Our Orthopedic surgeon x-rayed Kimi's hips and the dysplasia had gotten worse. 

So we knew what we had to do. 

We have prepared Kimi as best as we can, as she still has developmental delays from her years of neglect in the orphanage.  Her speech therapist, Shelly, worked with us to create a little book explaining it all to Kimi at a level she can understand.  Kimi seems fine with it at this point in time and says she wants a blue cast - so we will see if they can accommodate her request.  She will be at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital for five days.  I plan to post updates on this blog.  Prayers are VERY MUCH appreciated for Kimi and her two surgeons.  Here are some photos of her walking progress from the Spring of 2011 to the Summer of 2013.