We knew this was a possibility and it was confirmed mid july. I can still hear some clicking from time to time so I had a feeling. The long and short of it is this: Mei Sim's hip is in the socket and there is no risk of it coming out. However, her socket was without the ball of the femur in it for so long (19 months or so) so the socket isn't properly shaped. It is long rather than coming around and cupping the ball. The hope had been that it would correct on its own post-op. It can heal for up to 18 months .... 2 years later and there has been almost no change. So basically, the ball can slide up and down in the socket a tiny bit which it shouldn't be doing.
The surgery is to prevent her from having issues later on in life-- like arthritis in her 20s-- among other things. The doctor said it needed to be corrected before she turned 5. She will be 4 in November. I informed in that I did not want a new china baby and a baby in a body cast at the same time! Ha! So we are set for surgery on August 26th.
The good news? The cast is only for 4 weeks. The bad news? They will be cutting through bone, harvesting some more bone and screwing some things in..... so it is going to hurt.
Anyway, wanted to put this out there so that you can being to join me in prayer for my littlest peanut. (But don't mention it around her because she doesn't know yet!!) She is an amazing transformed little girl..... but medical stuff just does something to her that honestly breaks my heart....
At her appointment in July, she had to have an X-ray of her hips and as she lay on the table, I could see something in her eyes just switch.... she mentally went to place that I haven't seen in a long long time.... it reminded me of those first days home....she was staring through me.... screaming, a look of terror in her eyes and she couldn't seem to hear me.... this is something very different than a typical child being scared of the doctor, I can assure you. There are fascinating studies and information out there about neurological pathways in the brain of a child who was institutionalized at some point.... and while I am certain we have laid new pathways in her brain, there are still triggers (i.e. the X-ray machine) that send her back down the old familiar neurological paths.... paths that tell her to go into fight, flight or freeze to survive.....it can take years to make the new pathways override the original ones.
It was over in a matter of 45 seconds but it took the rest of the day to recover.
Just after this the fellow kept trying to talk to her...
"hey Mei! How old are you?" (no comment)
"Do you like doc mcstuffins?" (no comment)
"Do you want a sticker?" (no comment)
I finally looked at her and said "I'm sorry, she is not going to talk to you right now but I'm happy to." She seemed oblivious to the fact that she was in a high state of stress.... Thankfully, we have an amazing doctor who totally gets everything about Mei Sims. We praise God that He is continuing to heal MS through the miracle of modern medicine.
So, over the next couple of weeks please pray for the doctor's hands to perfectly fix her socket. Pray for healing post-op. And most importantly, pray for her heart and her mind to be surrounded by the peace of Christ in only a way that He can do.... that fear would be pushed far from her and she would feel safe and secure.
You can also pray that the positioning of her legs would somehow be conducive to putting her on the potty or dangling her over it somehow. Not really wanting to go back to diapers. I guess my awesome biceps are going to make a return appearance sometime this fall as well? Good times.
Thanks friends! And no adoption update just yet--- but we are ok with that-- plenty to keep us occupied in the meantime...
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