7 months after our first visit to the orthopaedic doctor, we finally got the (mostly) good news we had been waiting for. Isabelle had another xray this morning and it looks like her hips are close enough to normal that she won’t need any further treatment. They were looking for an angle of 25 degrees, 30 requires more treatment, and her right is at 27 degrees.
She still has mild hip dysplasia, and probably will her whole life, but her hips are both in the sockets so she is not eligible for a cast or brace. The only way to correct the angles would be an extensive surgery followed by a long recovery, and her doctor doesn’t think mild hip dysplasia would cause enough problems to warrant that.
She will still be able to run and play sports and go about her life normally. The possible long-term implications of mild hip dysplasia might be arthritis in that hip when she is 50 or 60, and IF that happens, they can correct it with surgery then. It did not make sense to do a surgery now on the possibility of “IF”. So, while it wasn’t perfect news, we are happy that her hips are in the sockets and she will live a normal life. We will go back in 4 months for another xray just to check that things are continuing to improve (or not get worse, which is unlikely.) Thanks everyone for all the positive vibes and support during all of this ?