What is this blog about?

Alex enjoying her bottle the night before surgery

Our daughter Alex has been diagnosed with DDS which is Developmental dysplasia of the hip

According to the specialist this happens about 4/1000 births of which only 1/1000 are not picked up until Alex's age (18 months).

She had been a bit unstable while learning to walk and had also been a late walker but no real signs of the issue until recently when her walking did not improve and she started to favour one leg.

An x-ray revealed the dislocation and the specialist has recommended an open reduction hip surgery followed by a long spell in a bilateral long leg hip spica cast (6 months approx).

We are trying to stay positive about this - it's obviously not great news but we are viewing the Op and recovery period as being positive steps to her overall recovery, and long term well-being which is paramount.

This blog is intended as a record of the experience so perhaps other people who are in the same situation can get an idea of what's coming up. Every experience will be different for every patient and every family. 

This is our family journey.

So far our family support has been amazing and the staff at Auckland Hospital have also been amazing.

It's a rubbish situation but we are going to put everything we can in to getting our daughter back on her feet.