The night before, Matilda did great. She would have probably slept through the night if I didn't wake her up at 3 am to feed her (since she wasn't allowed to eat up to 4 hours prior to the surgery).
We had to be at the hospital at 6 am. She was the first surgery of the day at 7:30 am. After signing in and taking her stats (weight, height, etc.), we were quickly taken to pre-op where we changed her into the hospital provided PJ's and met with the anesthesiologist, nurse, and surgeon. Even though I'm sure she was hungry, she did great during all this too.
When they took her into the surgery, they told us the surgery would take up to an hour and a half. If the surgery was unsuccessful, we would know rather quickly. The surgery/ procedure consists of a tenotomy where the surgeon cuts a tendon, an arthrogram where dye is injected so the surgeon can see the hip better, the closed reduction part where he tries to manipulate the leg in place, an x-ray to make sure it worked, the application of the spica cast, and the MRI to make sure the blood flow looks good.
We went back to the waiting room and about 30 minutes later we got a call from the nurse. We were so sure the surgery hadn't worked, but she called to let us know Matilda was doing well and the surgeon was able to manipulate her leg into place. Hooray! They spent the next hour casting her.
We met the surgeon real quick who explained that her leg looked good in the socket. We then headed back to the recovery area, where Matilda had already woken up. This part was really sad. Because she was groggy from the pain meds and her throat was sore from the breathing tube, she couldn't even really cry. She kept doing these soundless screams that were so pitiful. They upped her pain meds and she went in and out of sleep for the next few hours.
We had to head downstairs to get an MRI to make sure the blood flow to the leg looked ok. Then we went back up to the recovery area where we waited to be released. She didn't really want to eat much at all after her surgery, so that was a bit concerning. There was also a mix up about whether the hospital would be providing us a carseat. We thought they were going to loan us a medical grade one specifically made for spica casts, but they brought out a brand new one similar to the one we already had. Since insurance wasn't going to cover the one they were showing us, we opted to just use the one we already had.
We finally got out of the hospital around 2:30 pm and headed home. Matilda slept/ cried/ whimpered most of the remainder of the day and night, waking about every 2-3 hours needing to be comforted.
We expected the worst for the next few days, but Matilda has done surprisingly well. We've been giving her Tylenol every 6 hours to help with the pain, but she's almost back to normal Matilda.
I've been pleasantly surprised about how little it seems we'll need to modify our routine. She's sleeping on her beanbag rather than her bouncer, but everything else seems ok. She can lay on the floor to play with her toys as long as you have a blanket rolled up under her top half so the cast doesn't dig into her back. She can sit on the couch as long as you have a pillow under her that she can straddle. The cast is shaped in a way that it's easy to cuddle and rock her to sleep. Diaper changes are difficult, but manageable. We still need to "petal" her cast, which is basically applying waterproof tape around the diaper opening to make cleaning any messes easier.
We still have a way to go for healthy hips, but this is a good start. The cast will help keep her legs in place so the ball and socket have time to properly form. She'll be in the cast 3-4 months, followed by some time back in the Rhino cruiser. There will be plenty of x-rays and ultrasounds along the way to monitor her progress.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. This definitely hasn't been easy, but we're proud of our little trooper.
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