Into the Belly of the Giant Donut

T-27 days...

Updation!!!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Oh well, here's what you missed.

Nov. 21 (today): pre-pre-op

What's going on: I took a ride in the donut!!! Yes, Melora got her first CT scan ever. It was

pretty exciting. For some reason, whenever I take an X-ray or CT Scan, I have to fight an

urge to laugh. Today was the worst! Apparently, a machine telling me to laugh and hold my

breath, coupled with thrilling animation is hilarious. The lady described it as going inside a

donut hole. I hold to that notion.
Dec. 6: pre-op

Just another visit to my wonderful Dr. Guyton to see how I'm doing about a week before

the thrilling operation.

Dec. 18: little kid band concert! (and PAO)

Yes, the thrilling date at Methodist East. (I can't eat for 13 1/2 hours plus surgery!!)

Dec. 21 or 22: I come home!

Jan. 6: Post-op

Here is where they tell me exactly what I can and cannot do. Yes, school is restricted for a

while.

Speaking of X-rays.....here's my lovely picture!!!

The right is where the R is and so on. The little sticks you see are from my surgery when I was two. Yes, the pins are still in there.

It's kind of small, but you can probably see the space in between my socket and my femoral head.

Technically, I confund the doctors, because my right hip is actually worse than my left, even though we're operating on my left. My right hip has no pain at all while my left is quite painful, so thus the decision to operate on my left.

My right hip will probably follow comparitively soon after my left, owing to it's condition.

If I can ever find it, I swear I shall post my favorite x-ray ever. Yes. It is sad that I have chosen a favorite x-ray. Instead of a little scrap of lead over the uterus (to protect from radiation damage) the hospital chose a little lead heart instead. It's so cute!!!

Interesting fact: after the surgery, I will have a dead nerve space for about 2 years. You learn something new every day!

Well, that's it for now.

Dysplastic word o' the day: Ganz Osteotomy-exactly the same as a PAO, just named after the guy that invented it.

Explanation and Description

T-36 days. And 98 till my birthday! Right, London?

THE CLEVER, CLEVER PUN EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE MISSING:
(maybe because I didn't explain it enough.)
Everyone started asking about my title, Kung PAO, and why I had called it that.
Duh, I thought, because a periacetabular osteotomy is called a PAO. Everyone knows that. And then it struck me that everyone may not know that. Even my sister had a sticky point connecting synapses.
Leave it to me to use a pun that goes over most everybodies heads. Oops. So my goal today is to inform the ill informed.
I'm getting a periacetabular osteotomy for my major surgery. Shortened, it is called a PAO. The main mechanics of it involves cutting out my bone socket, rotating it several degrees, then screwing it back in. X-rays to come later. The reason reason for pain and the surgery is that the (irreplaceable) cartilage is being worn down by the uneven pressure on the socket. This causes pain. Ok, here's my brief glossary:
PAO: periacetabular osteotomy; 'peri' meaning around, 'acetabular' referring to the acetabulum, 'osteo' as in bone, and '-tomy' as in an operation.

OS: Orthopaediatric surgeon. He works with the anatomy and physiology of bones, mostly.

Hip Dysplasia: Where a head of the bone is "displaced" from the socket. That may not be the actual origin of the word, but that's basically it.

NWB: Non-weight bearing. Means no pressure on the joint. Hence, the crutches.

PWB: Partial weight bearing. Figure it out.

Acetabulum: The socket, basically. It is the anatomical name for the bone in that region.

Did I skip anything? Probably. More to come in future, probably. Maybe I should open up every post with the "Dysplastic Word o' the Day".

Following Yellow Brick Road

T-39 days

Found on a fortune cookie at Pei Wei: Some like it hot. Eat more Kung Pao.

Surely a good omen or something akin to one! (My lucky numbers are 5,9, 11,20,36, and 40, by the way.)

So, where were we? Somewhere along the "I'm a fairly healthy person point." About mid-September, I went in to my OS (Orthopaediatric Surgeon) at the grand ol' Campell Clinic. I had told him about pains I had in my hip, how it was pretty bad some days, blah, blah, blah. He took x-rays, which are muy uncomfortablemente, by the way, and had them on the computer and was hemming and hawing and said: "If you don't have surgery within the next 5 years you'll need a replacement... (something about cartilage, not important at this present moment)...but I recommend getting them within the next 2 year span or so. Get back in touch with us when you want to schedule." So we talked. At Atlanta Bread company. I mean, I'm off school, right?

And I mull. I decide Christmas. There is my story (pretty much, details to come later, I suppose). Any questions? Comments? Threats? What does this mean to me as a Junior at Harding Academy?

The Beginning...I'm Pretty Sure

Well, welcome to my hip blog. The place where I tell you my whole life story concerning hips.

I will start at the beginning: birth. I was born with hip dysplasia. Except my doctor didn't seem to notice. Grr. You see, at birth dysplasia is fairly easy to fix. The bones are still semi-malleable, and all is right with the world. Unfortunately, I was about 1 1/2 when they found out. Which meant two (both my hips were messed up) major surgeries. So we fixed them. I was in a body cast for about six months and then a couple months more because I, accident prone as I am, had to go and break one of my legs. In the hospital, no less.

So here I am. All I have on me since my surgeries were 4 scars. My doctors were not sure I would be able to grow up as active as other children. They were mistaken. I was active plenty enough. (Of course, my dad did get teary the first time he saw me run a cross country race :) I still went to the Milwaukee Children's Hospital every year till I was 10.
When we moved, we went once to Campbell Clinic and that was it. Until one day, when....

Tune in next time for the next exciting account of Melora managing to mess herself up...