Today Joy had two appointments. First was in the clinic to see the rehab doctor and show her how well Joy is doing! Then quickly off to orthopedics (carried Joy piggy-back to get there on time, then we waited an hour!!) We saw Dr. Schmitz today since Dr. Flanagan is on maternity leave with her new son! There seems to be a lot of growth on the x-ray, but the head shape is not as round as we'd hoped, more cylindrical. Goes back and forth in the socket well, but rotation is limited. He said Joy's hip will never be normal, but should get her into her 60's before a replacement is necessary! He also said she would never be a professional gymnast. (Not that she was going to be, but she was taking gymnastics classes when she was diagnosed with Perthes.) We'll have to get her on a swim team instead! She's not released to full activity yet (still no running/jumping), but activity as tolerated. We go back in December. Schmitz wouldn't completely rule out further surgery, but I think things are looking pretty good! If not for the external fixator, he said her femoral head would be square!
