Good News: Hips!

One of the specialists Emma sees on a regular basis is an orthopedic surgeon.  Since Emma isn't standing or walking like a typical 3 year old and she has high tone in her legs there has been some concern about her right hip not sitting in the hip socket correctly.  Typically once it starts to get 20% out of the socket the doctors start to get concerned.  Emma's has been out as much as 38% out.  At her visit 6 months ago she was out 33% and the doctor gave us some initial discussion/indications about possible surgery in her future.  He also gave us certain stretches to do that could help her hip go back into place or - at the very least - help prevent it from pulling out further.  Chris and I were less than thrilled about that discussion and left with a renewed interest in adding stretches to Emma's daily routine.

Yesterday Emma had her 6 month follow-up and the x-ray showed that she is down to 27% out.  Yeah!  We are headed in the right direction and not discussing surgery at this time.  The doctor even mentioned that at her 6 month folow-up he will not need an x-ray unless his exam on her gives him concern and, if that happens, she'll go down the hall and have one done.  It is soooo nice to leave a doctor's appointment with good news for a change!

I have a feeling Emma's love of commando crawling and walking in her gait trainer are helping her make great gains with her hips.  Chris is also focused on stretching Emma each night as part of their routine and we will continue to make this a priority so we can keep surgery at bay.  We took the last two month off from horse riding because of the cold and snowy weather and hope to start Emma riding again in May.  Riding the horse helps give her legs an extended stretch and movement while she is enjoying a ride around the farm.  I've noticed that Emma's trunk has gotten weaker lately and mentioned this to the doctor.  He said the horse riding should help with her trunk muscles so I'm wondering if the break in riding is the reason for her "floppy" trunk lately.  I'm not sure if its the sudden change to warm weather or not, but I'm looking forward to seeing if starting up riding again will help her control her trunk muscles better.