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| Daddy and Daniel Trip to Finland |
A quick update on the recent visit with Dr Paley from Daniel's Dad, Shane. . .
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| Max and Mummy ready and packed for Perth |
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| Daddy and Daniel at the airport |
Dan and I flew
to Helsinki to see Dr Paley on Thursday night. Max was pretty distraught
last time Dan and I left them behind for Aunty Kim's birthday in Australia so
Kristen took Max to Perth leaving a few hours before us. Max was so
chuffed going in the taxi to catch a plane with Mummy by himself.
The flight was pretty good. Dan fell asleep straight away since we left
from Singapore at midnight, and slept most of the 12 hour flight to Helsinki.
After meeting my
second cousin Lotta, we went straight to the hotel where the European Paediatric Orthopedic Society conference was being held.
Dr Paley was able to see us pretty quickly and he reviewed Dan's X-rays and MRIs, and as soon as he started examining Dan he was clearly happy with Dan's hip. He has good hip motion forward and back of about 60 degrees and you only need about 40 degrees for normal function. There is no sideways movement, but that doesn't cause any issues of concern. He checked out Dan's gait and was pretty happy with that too. Given where we started with Dan's hip and all the physiotherapy, exercises and stretches it was awesome news. He now has a functioning hip and we can start to think about next steps.
Dr Paley suggested we now wait for a couple of years before starting lengthening his femur because age 5 is a more difficult age to deal with the emotional aspect of lengthening. So we now have 2 years off from surgeries!
Some other highlights of the trip were the food: moose steak (caught by Lotta's boyfriend Timo), reindeer (not Santa's), deer (from the family's farm), traditional black bread, traditional sweet bread (bulla), and the strangest Finnish Easter desert (Mämmi: looks like vegemite and smells like rye bread, mix it with cream to eat). Dan is very adventurous with food and had a go at everything.
The other highlights were catching up with family, the Angry Bird "superstore" (not really so super, but was enough for Dan - Helsinki is the home of Angry Birds), snow fights with the family (we were lucky enough to get there before it all melted), and walking on a frozen lake! Thanks to all the family for making it such a memorable long weekend for Daniel. He absolutely loved it!
Dr Paley was able to see us pretty quickly and he reviewed Dan's X-rays and MRIs, and as soon as he started examining Dan he was clearly happy with Dan's hip. He has good hip motion forward and back of about 60 degrees and you only need about 40 degrees for normal function. There is no sideways movement, but that doesn't cause any issues of concern. He checked out Dan's gait and was pretty happy with that too. Given where we started with Dan's hip and all the physiotherapy, exercises and stretches it was awesome news. He now has a functioning hip and we can start to think about next steps.
Dr Paley suggested we now wait for a couple of years before starting lengthening his femur because age 5 is a more difficult age to deal with the emotional aspect of lengthening. So we now have 2 years off from surgeries!
Some other highlights of the trip were the food: moose steak (caught by Lotta's boyfriend Timo), reindeer (not Santa's), deer (from the family's farm), traditional black bread, traditional sweet bread (bulla), and the strangest Finnish Easter desert (Mämmi: looks like vegemite and smells like rye bread, mix it with cream to eat). Dan is very adventurous with food and had a go at everything.
The other highlights were catching up with family, the Angry Bird "superstore" (not really so super, but was enough for Dan - Helsinki is the home of Angry Birds), snow fights with the family (we were lucky enough to get there before it all melted), and walking on a frozen lake! Thanks to all the family for making it such a memorable long weekend for Daniel. He absolutely loved it!
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| Angry Birds Superstore |
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| Angry Birds Soft Drink |
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| Frozen Lake |
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| Fun with Snow |
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| Enjoying Snow with the Finnish relatives (Lotta, Matti and Timo) |
Posted By Shane (Daniel's Dad)
