Update on Arielle’s Journey with Hip Dysplasia

More than a year ago I shared that Arielle had been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. We’d actually received the official diagnosis when she was 3 months old, but I hadn’t felt comfortable sharing the news. You can read all about when we found out, the resulting guilt I felt because Arielle had been born breach, and her course of treatment up until just before she celebrated her second birthday here. 

But for now, keep reading for an update on Arielle’s journey with hip dysplasia.

25 Months to 30 Months

We had been determined to keep Arielle in her crib to prevent her from getting out with the brace on. We were just too nervous about her walking in it, especially living on the second floor. But during naptime one afternoon in June she climbed up and out of her crib. A few days later we put her in her brace for naptime to try and deter her from getting out. That did nothing. Believe it or not, she was actually able to climb out even with her legs held in that bowed-legged position. We were shocked. 

The mattress was already as low to the floor as it could get so we had to take the next logical step. We replaced the crib side with a much lower toddler bed side. Now she could get out of bed on her own without the threat of danger. 

There went our quiet mornings! Almost every morning since then she’s served as our cute little alarm clock. 

At our August 2021 checkup when Arielle was 27 months old, her specialist, Dr. Braun entered the examination room looking very serious. He asked us a series of questions about how she was doing, how long she was wearing the brace on a nightly basis, and what her daily physical activity looked like. We gave him the full report, and that look on his face became even more serious. 

Long story short, he informed us that her hip had not made any progress and this lack of improvement had been going on for almost eight months. He was concerned that if this continued, she may have to have surgery to correct the issue. While that may sound like the quick fix, in this case, surgery is never the preferred option. There are too many variables, she’s very young and still growing. Not only might the surgery not work, it could lead to problems down the road. The last thing we wanted to do was surgery. 

I went home from that appointment feeling extremely defeated. She had been wearing that brace consistently since she was a tiny one and she was so good about it. Why wasn’t it working? That night, after we strapped her into the brace, I cried myself to sleep.  

From then on we became extremely religious about making sure she was wearing the brace a full 12 hours every night. Even when it was super hot, even when she had a cold and it was hard to breathe, she wore the brace. When she started to fight us, we took her very first brace, a premie-sized one, and strapped it onto one of her stuffed animals (what she calls her babies) so she would have a brace buddy. Also, my mom did the kid’s version of PT by playing games like porch soccer (exactly what  it sounds like), bouncing on the rebounder, and taking walks all around our downtown. 

Then in December, our next check-up, Dr. Braun told us that finally, after a full year of no progress, she had made some very real improvement. We weren’t out of the woods, but this was the start of something good.

31 months to 33 months

We were holding our breath as we drove into Boston for her March 2022 appointment and we were so happy to hear that she had made even more improvement. Dr. Braun said he wasn’t making any promises, but if she kept going at the rate she was moving forward with now, she may be able to say goodbye to the brace in a few months. Almost there …

34 months to 37 months

This was the final push. We made sure she wore her brace every night, my mom kicked up the PT sessions, and we all said lots of prayers that we would soon be able to bid the brace buh-bye. 

Then about a week before her big appointment, the do-or-die moment that would determine whether or not she would need surgery, we all got Covid. When I called to reschedule, it ended up pushing the appointment out almost a month. I’ll admit, I was sweating it out those last few weeks, wondering what would happen. 

The end of June we once again headed into Boston, fingers crossed, prayers repeated over and over in silence. Like we had done every three months for the past two and and a half years, we took her into the x-ray room so they could grab pictures of her hip joints, before we were ushered into an empty examination room. Alex texted me to let me know he was on his way from his office down the street. 

A few minutes later, Dr. Braun entered the room with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his face. I felt my heart clench. I had been so hopeful for good news, but so ready to receive the bad, that I didn’t allow myself to believe that we would actually get good news. 
“I have the best news,” he said excitedly.

Just at that moment, Alex came into the room, a little out of breath from rushing to get there in time. 

“Sorry I’m late!” he apologized.

Dr. Braun smiled even bigger, “You’re just in time for the great news. Arielle is all done with the brace.”

This is the sentence I’d been waiting to hear since we’d found out she had to wear a brace. I don’t want to be overdramatic but I thought when I received this news I’d start bawling my eyes out. But my first reaction was just to hug Arielle as tightly as I possibly could. 

Finally, her hip socket was measuring well within the normal range and her hip dysplasia was cured. The brace that I had come to despise had done its job. 

As did we in putting it on her every night, as had my mom with all of the PT she had done with Arielle, as had Dr. Braun and his staff in watching her progress so closely. 

All I could think to myself was, no more brace.

Going Forward

“No more brace” is coincidentally what Arielle says every once and a while when we put her to bed. It’s understandable. Up until a few months ago the only bedtime routine she knew included the brace. And now that’s no longer part of it. Thank God!

While Dr. Braun is lovely and I really enjoyed our conversations, I am so happy to say we will not be seeing him for two years. He wants us to schedule a follow-up when Arielle turns 5. He said that she now has a healthy hip connection and should not have any issues in the future. 

“She can be a football player, a ballerina, anything she wants to be,” he told us. 

I’m not sure she’ll be either one of those things, but the fact that her hip is no longer a limitation, that it will not hold her back from being a normal, healthy child, is more than I could have ever asked for. 

Thank you so much to Dr. Braun and his team, as well as the wonderful staff at Tuft’s Children’s Hospital. Thank you so much to my mom for all of her hard work during this time. Thank you to the rest of our family for being so supportive and positive as we went through this.

Most importantly, thank you to Arielle for being such a wonderful little girl and giving us so few issues every night as we strapped her in. I am so glad that you get to wear your princess nightgowns, run around in the morning without issue, and move freely in your bed so you can be comfy and cozy. 

Thank you for being my baby. 

If you are dealing with hip dysplasia, or your child has been diagnosed, feel free to reach out to me. I’d love to chat and let you know that it’s going to be okay, just like the encouraging DMs I’ve received.