Update on Scott: His Left Hip

Hi all. It has been way too long since our last posting. Unfortunately it seems the right time to post is when we come back from the Doctor or hospital :( Since the last posting Scott has been doing great and growing into a fun and happy little boy. He started walking at 14 months and is quite a destructive force. He likes to flip thing over and toss them out of his way. However, we noticed a little hitch in his step and was not as stable as he should. We finally got an xray on his hip and it showed a difference in development from the right one. His doctor wanted to get more detail so he scheduled an arthogram.

Scott had the arthogram on his hip this morning (xrays with dye for better contrast - requires general anesthesia). The test went well and Scott was a trooper. The test confirmed the doctor's suspicion that Scott has a misformed left hip socket and ball (top of femur). This was likely caused by lack of blood flow when Scott had his infection in the hospital after his heart surgery. His cartilage and everything else looks good. The doctor's opinion is that nothing should be done now, monitor Scott every 6-12 months going forward and then do surgery to correct the problem when he is much older - like 12! There should be no pain associated with the hip, but he will likely have a limp. We will just have to see how severe it is and how much it restricts his mobility and activity.

While Scott was anethesized during the test the doctor noticed that one of the tendons to that hip was very tight (as is common with this type of issue) so he cut the tendon to loosen it and reattached it. We hope this relieves some pressure on the hip and gives Scott greater mobility. We'll see what happens over the coming days and weeks.

The silver lining is that we won't have to deal with a cast any time soon.

Hope all is well with all of you,

Phil, Mindy, Will and Scott

Brotherly Love

As you can see from the photo, Scotty is quite enamored with his big brother. Will enjoys playing with Scotty and constantly makes him smile :)

Scotty is sitting up now and seems to be very proud of himself! He also has 2 bottom teeth which came in a couple of weeks ago. It would be nice if he was showing more interest in eating solids. He is still gaining good weight because he loves his milk but we are working with an occupational therapist who specializes in feeding issues to help him get better at taking solid food. He is showing some progress albeit very slow. We just keep trying....

This close-up of Scott was taken in mid-June by Mindy's cousin Molly. Scott is just over 9 months old.

I didn't realize that Phil recently updated the blog with some more current photos so I had to add one too! This was taken about a week ago - I was keeping Scott busy while giving him his tummy time.

Will and Scott - Easter 2009

Here is a shot of Will and Scott at their grandmother's house at Easter.

Scott Finds his Toes

Here is a recent shot of Scott. Sorry for the long delay in putting up a new post. Scott continues to grow and develop. While he is still beign following by an army of specialists, he seems to be doing well and has no major long term issues. We hope it stays that way. Phil