This past Tuesday Sara had her 1 month follow-up appt from her hip surgery. And I'm happy to report, Sara's hip looks awesome!!! Its completely healed and staying in the socket through out her range of movement! Yea!!
Now for the news I didn't expect to hear at this appt....Sara has a stress fracture in her lower right leg!
Yes, you read it correctly. Sara has a broken leg (technically) on the right side. We discovered this because Sara's lower leg on that side is still somewhat swollen, so the doctor wanted to check it with x-ray. And sure enough, his suspicions turned out to be correct.
The fracture is very small, and already starting to heal on its own. It has formed a "ball of calcium" around the fracture to stablize it while it heals. Its the body's way of making its own cast, and that's why her leg still looks swollen...because she has this large "ball" in her leg.
The doctor said that the fracture is several weeks old and believes it either happened during surgery when they flipped her because her bones in that leg are so thin and fragile. Or it could have happened because of the swelling inside the cast could have put pressure on the bone and snapped it that way. There's no way to know exactly when or how it happened.
The treatment plan?? To do nothing. Anything he would do at this point would probably just make the situation worse. So we will let the body heal it on its own, which will take several months. I have to take her back for another follow-up in 3 months so we can x-ray the break again and make sure the body is still healing!
But good news over all! Her new hip is looking great, PT is going fantastic, Sara is already up and walking some, and the fracture in her right leg is healing!
What a strong brave girl. Makes me think of Joey. Walks around in what should be brain altering pain....but still goes about the day laughing and talking and just being happy.
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