At the beginning of April Dani had her first appointment at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. The big girls went to spend the afternoon with Auntie Laura and we headed for Dallas. Our past experiences have been so wonderful, that just walking into Scottish Rite makes me happy. We checked in and waited to be taken back to orthopedics where they got her height and weight while listening to much screaming. Then we were in the waiting area until it was time to meet the doctors.
Once they called us in the room we encouraged Dani to play with the toys in the room hoping that would help her be calm.
She was fine until a nurse came in to ask us a question, then she was upset.
The nurse left and then the first doctor came in to talk with us and check her out. She was really upset all through having her hips moved around and the doctor was so apologetic, but told us they would need an x-ray. We went over to radiology and I tried to bribe Dani with a lollipop and that worked until they got her in position for the x-ray. Even with me holding onto her and the tech helping it was a challenge. Mike could hear her screaming all the way down the hallway. Once that was over we returned to the orthopedic waiting area. Then they called us back to the room and she was happy and playing again.
Then Dr. Birch came in to talk to us about the x-ray and our options. We think he is really wonderful (we met him back in 2011 on Amelie’s first visit). I was glad that we went into the appointment having done our research, because even with what we knew, it was overwhelming. She definitely needs surgery and we have a 6 month window to do it and her outcome be the same. Right now she only has a slight limp, but if left untreated it will get worse and worse. They told us it will require a 3-5 day hospital stay and 8 weeks in a cast from her armpits to her ankles. They told us that we should prepare for 12 weeks, but it will most likely be just 8 weeks.
Nurse Emily gave us a lot more information after the doctors left the room and asked us to take the night to talk about it and check out our family calendar. We thanked them for everything and then headed to pick up the big girls.
The surgery is now scheduled for May 8th. Our family would appreciate your prayers for us as Dani goes through this very hard surgery and weeks in the cast.