HIP OPERATION AND RECOVERY

 In January, Jasmine went for her double hip surgery. She had it done in the Children's part of Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick, and I have to say everyone was very nice. The nurses had me put scrubs on, and I was allowed to go into the operating room with Jasmine to hold her hand while they gave her anesthesia. I was thankful that I was there for her, but I had a very hard time holding back my tears and fears. The operation itself took a few hours, and the waiting was very hard. Since Jasmine's hip joints were pulling away from the socket, they had to make very large incisions on both sides of her hips to put the hip in place with hinges that looked like something you would put on your kitchen cabinets. Thank goodness I didn't see what they looked like until they removed them a year and a half later. What came next was somewhat  unexpected even though it was explained to me before hand. We were called into the recovery room and there was Jasmine with casts on both legs. They started all the way at the top, and ended to the tips of her toes. Holding her legs apart was a stick that looked like it came from the end of a broom. This was going to be her position for the next six weeks. When she was released from the hospital a few days later, I knew I was going to be very busy for the next six weeks. Jasmine was brought home in an ambulance, because she had to be on a stretcher since she couldn't sit up. She was in excruciating pain, and would be for a long time. I had to give her pain medication every four to six hours, just to keep her semi comfortable. We needed two people to change her, because just to move her a little made her cry. I had to have someone lift both her legs up holding the bar, making sure they didn't drop her legs. Then I had to somehow change her diaper. Sometimes I would have to sit and wait until someone came home to help me. I had very little sleep for six weeks. I don't really remember leaving her room for more than five minutes at a time. She woke up all night long, and I had to try and comfort her which was nearly impossible. When she would have to go for her checkup, the ambulance had to come to take her on the stretcher. The ride was so painful, and I just couldn't wait for it to be over. Finally, after what seemed like forever, which was really about two months, the casts came off. Then she had to work twice as hard to get back to where she was physically before the surgery. It was then that I understood what Karen had said to me. If I had to do it over again and knew what kind of pain she would be in, it would have been an even harder decision to make. In the end I am glad that we did it, because it has improved her standing and walking and so far her hip joints are still in place. This would not be our only hospital stay with Jasmine. She had to have a couple of 24 hour EEG's to make sure that she was not having any seizures. Even though they came back negative for seizures, she had misfiring of the brain, which can make her thoughts and motions confused, so eventually we had to put her back on anti seizure medication. The year went by for Jasmine with no major health issues, so all in all, it was a very successful year.