140 year of Shriners

140 year of Shriners

Saturday, October 3, 2009

New Eyes visit Shriners Hospital- Hawaii

Friday, October 2, 2009 By Jean E Authome
Shriners Hospital
Yesterday Miley and I ventured to Honolulu for a doctors appointment at Shriners Hospital. Because she was breech, she had a great chance of having hip dysplasia. Our pediatrician here in Hilo had and ultrasound taken. The results said there was a 3 degree misalignment. So we were refereed to the children's orthopedic masters, the Shriners.


I am completely amazed by this organization. They booked and purchased my plane ticket to Honolulu. A shuttle picked us up and the airport and transported us to the new hospital. It is beautiful! It is decorated with sea mosaics and choke full of kid friendly books and toys.

Our doctor specialises in hip dysplasia of infants. She conducted and ultrasound and from the black and white blurs, determined Miely's hips were just fine. (We kinda knew...but wanted to make sure).

In her inspection of Miley, she saw that our cutie favors her right side. Miley has torticollis. (When she said this my level of anxiety went into overdrive. What the heck is that?!)

Torticollis means "turned neck,"and there are several different causes for this, including tightness of the neck muscles on one side, an irregularity in the neck spine, or even a bruise, a scar, or a growth in the neck. We are pretty sure Miley simply has muscle tightness on one side. The physical therapist said her condition was very mild and she could possibly correct it on her own. I did learn some stretches to do with her, and will strive to make her look to her left more often (in the carrier, when we play, while she sleeps).

We have another appointment here in Hilo in December. I am grateful because a one day trip to Ohau is not Authsome. It is tiresome even when Miley is a great traveler.

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