Joy's hip journey

Joy Noelle was born in 2001 with Hip Dysplasia. Her journey through that condition can be seen here:
http://www.cutelittlechurch.com/joyship/joyship.htm
In January 2010 her orthopedist looked at an x-ray and declared Joy's hips were "Perfect!" and she was officially cured of her DDH. YAY! Then, out of nowhere, she began to limp. She said the pain was in her groin. We figured she'd pulled a muscle, cause it couldn't be her perfect hip!? Finally, in March, the pain was so severe she couldn't sleep so we took her to the E.R. and they x-rayed her and said she had a "hip-injury". We saw the orthopedist the next day and she was officially diagnosed with Legg Calve Perthes Disease or Avascular Necrosis (AVN) of her left hip. For some unknown reason the blood supply to the femoral head is cut off, and the bone dies, collapsing from a nice round ball into a flat little pancake. (This process took a year.) Immediately upon diagnosis, Joy was put in a wheelchair and crutches for three months. Then they let her up for a while.....then she was back in the chair.....She started Physical Therapy once a week to work on range of motion and stretching excercises. Once the femoral head completely collapses, it is important to make sure the femur is seated properly in the pelvis so the ball of the joint has room to grow back correctly. Our orthopedist attempted to apply a Petrie cast which would hold the legs out in a wide "V" shape as the hip heals, but this procedure did not work out, so we had to move on to plan "B"......an External Fixator device. On April 14th 2011 Dr. Jill Flanagan applied the fixator to Joy's left hip. The femur now has three pins holding it in the proper position, distracted away from the pelvis, leaving room for the femoral head to regrow. Joy will wear this device for the next 4 months, so we are starting this new BLOG to document her journey. I hope she can help and inspire other kids dealing with this difficult condition!