What exactly is an osteotomy anyway?

So, now that I've had my much anticipated hip surgery, Mom says we can actually talk about what they did. She said she couldn't talk about it before or look at pictures because it was, "too much." Luckily, Dad was able to read the 25 page booklet the hospital gave us called, A Guidebook for Hip Surgery in Children with Cerebral Palsy. These are the things I had done on Tuesday during my 8.5 hour surgery:

This is what my hips will kind of look like on an xray.

- Femoral Osteotomy- my femur bone was not sitting in the hip correctly so it needed to be positioned correctly in the socket and then attached with screws and a plate. Eventually they will probably take out the hardware in maybe 6 mo-1yr.
- Pelvic Osteotomy- this part of the surgery helps make a better cup in the pelvis to hold the ball of the femur.
- Tendon lengthening (achilles, foot, adductors)- the lengthening will help so my muscles won't be so tight trying to hold my hip in the wrong place. I also had a lengthening of muscles on my right heel and outside of my right foot.
- Foot reconstruction (right foot)- Over time my foot has become a little deformed because of the tight muscles and high tone I have all over my body. I am super strong, have you read about Tonus (my alter ego)? Needless to say, the pump that keeps Tonus at bay was not a silver bullet and Tonus is still alive and well, but a little more subdued. Anyhow, back to my foot- it had a huge protrusion on the inside of the foot from over pronation, so they needed to put some screws in to keep it from getting worse. 

I am hanging out at Boston Children's Hospital recovering from my surgery on the 10th floor. We have a pretty cool view of the other buildings close by, but we have to share a room. Luckily, our great nurse and Dad worked for us to get the window spot after our first night in the spot by the door (loud, bright, and annoying). 

 

This is what my legs look like

I have to have this wedge between them for 6 weeks. I also have soft braces on my legs to keep them straight and a cast on my right foot to keep the tendons from tightening up.









 

I also have lots of medication because they did lots of work on my joints. I have an epidural in to take care of some of the pain and lots of other things that make me pretty sleepy. The first night was pretty awful, Mom and I didn't sleep at all. The second night was better. Here is what my medication pump set up looks like- lots of hoses and stuff.

At BCH they have some cool programs, like Reiki treatments. I was really surprised when my own doctor came to my room to do the treatment today! This is Dr. Davidson, she's pretty awesome. She teaches yoga at the family center also.  They also have therapy dogs which I am hoping will come to say hello one of day.

There is a fun room on my floor to make crafts and see the other kids, but I haven't been out of my room yet. Hopefully I can get there by the end of the week. If it wasn't so cold we could go outside on the roof to the garden- it's pretty cool.

Tomorrow Dad, Addy and Liam will come to see me. Hopefully I'll be more awake and in less pain by then!