I am 41 years old and had LBHR on 8/13/09 by Dr. James Hall in Bend, Oregon. I have two sons, one who is six and one who is three. explaining the process to them has been a bit interesting, so I wrote a children's story to help them understand. They seem to have had a much easier time with it since. SuperGuy is my three year old and SnuggleMonster is my six year old. I hope this may help some others on the site who have young kids.
"A Story in My Eyes . . . A Very Hippy Adventure."
Once upon a time there lived a bear named Barney, who was ferocious, courageous, and of course very snuggleable. Barney had a problem. His stuffing hurt. And what do you do when your stuffing hurts? Well, he went to the doctor. And the doctor told Barney that he had some options, but one of those options was an artificial hip. So Barney went home and he became VERY sleepy.
Barney found himself thinking of his hurting stuffing and of his options. But he was not sure what to do. Barney was having a story in his eyes and to Barney's great surprise, in the story in his eyes, along came two VERY powerful friends -- SuperGuy and the SnuggleMonster. They both told Barney that he should learn more about his options, and they helped him look at some information on the computer. Barney learned about a Total Hip Replacement and about a Hip Resurfacing. As Barney learned more, he also found out about how the operation could take away his pain in his stuffing and could allow Barney to play more with SuperGuy and the SnuggleMonster.
Barney's Doctor had told him that a Hip Resurfacing was probably best for him, so Barney read about what that means. Barney learned that his bones in his hip would get a good rub down and then some real shiny metal pieces would go in to make his hip work just as good as new. The metal pieces even looked like a fun toy top when they were put together. They were called a BHR -- or a Birmingham Hip Replacement.
Barney wanted to have shiny stuff inside of him and a top was always fun to play with, so he asked SuperGuy and SnuggleMonster what they thought. SuperGuy gave Barney a BIG HUMONGOUS SQUEEZE and told Barney that he loved him. Then SnuggleMonster gave Barney a REALLY HUGE hug and said in sign language, "I love you!". Barney was ferocious and courageous, but he started to cry because SuperGuy and the SnuggleMonster loved him SOO MUCH -- just their love almost made all of the pain in his stuffing go away.
Barney then went to his Doctor and told him he was ready for the surgery. The Doctor had him come to the hospital and Barney was a little scared, but he knew he had SuperGuy and the Snuggle Monster there to help him. The Doctor had Barney put on some really funny looking clothes and then the Doctor helped Barney go to sleep and told Barney he would wake up with some temporary pain in his stuffing and the new shiny metal inside of him.
Barney then got some more help from the SnuggleMonster and SuperGuy, do you know how? Well, the SnuggleMonster gave Barney a REALLY HUGE hug and SuperGuy gave Barney a BIG HUMONGOUS SQUEEZE and they both told Barney that they loved him. And then Barney went to sleep.
Barney woke up and his stuffing did still hurt, but in a different way. It felt like somebody had been playing in his stuffing. The Doctor talked to Barney and said that it was normal to feel like somebody had played in his stuffing and that his surgery had gone very well. The doctor told Barney about how the shiny metal was now inside of him. The Doctor also told Barney about things he couldn't do for awhile, until he fully healed. For now, the Doctor only wanted Barney to stay in bed, unless he had to go to the bathroom.
Barney was still really tired and he wanted to fall back asleep, but he knew he was missing something that would really help him. Just then SuperGuy and the SnuggleMonster came in to save the day. SuperGuy gave Barney a BIG HUMONGOUS SQUEEZE and told Barney that he loved him. Then SnuggleMonster gave Barney a REALLY HUGE hug and said in sign language, "I love you!". Barney then felt much better, so he slowly fell back to sleep.
The next day, Barney was told by his doctor that he needed to get up and walk some. This was hard. His stuffing felt really stiff and he could even feel the new shiny metal inside of him move, but he worked really hard and he got up so he could walk. But Barney was very teetter-tottery, so the doctor had him hold on to a walker. He wasn't sure what to do, but then along came his two VERY powerful friends to the rescue again. SnuggleMonster helped make sure the walker Barney was using wasn't going to tip over and SuperGuy walked in front of them to clear the way. Together they all walked around the floor in the hospital and then back to Barney's room.
Barney was exhausted. He didn't ever remember moving his stuffing taking so much energy. But Barney also had help because then the SnuggleMoster gave Barney a REALLY HUGE hug and SuperGuy gave Barney a BIG HUMONGOUS SQUEEZE and they both told Barney that they loved him. And then Barney went to sleep.
Well the next day was just about the same but Barney walked around some more with the help of SuperGuy and the SnuggleMonster. And then the Doctor told Barney he could go home from the hospital. So Barney was taken to the car with the greatest of care and brought home. It was really strange for Barney to see his home again, he had to walk around with the help of crutches and the doctor had told him to walk really carefully for awhile. Barney was then really tired, but his two powerful friends came to the rescue again. Do you know how? SuperGuy gave Barney a BIG HUMONGOUS SQUEEZE and told Barney that he loved him. Then the SnuggleMonster gave Barney a REALLY HUGE hug and said in sign language, "I love you!".
Barney then had to do some exercises that the doctor said would help make his stuffing better. He had to lie down on the floor to do them. This was hard, because the floor seemed SO FAR AWAY, even for a bear who was ferocious, courageous, and of course very snuggleable. Barney slowly got himself from the chair to the floor while making sure his hurt stuffing was being protected. Then Barney laid down and started to do the exercises his doctor had told him to do. He found that some were really very easy, but some were really hard. But Barney had the help of his two powerful friends. While Barney would struggle through his exercises, SuperGuy would say "PULL" or "PUSH" or "knee out, knee out, knee out" and at times he would stop to give Barney a BIG HUMONGOUS SQUEEZE. And the SnuggleMonster brought Barney some pillows to help with his exercises and between some of them, the SnuggleMonster gave him a REALLY HUGE hug.
After a few days, Barney was supposed to walk outside. So the SnuggleMonster brought Barney his crutches and SuperGuy brought Barney his shoes. Then together they all walked outside. Barney thought the flowers were even more colorful and the sky was even more blue. And they walked together, slowly looking at the bees and flowers and the birds and the dogs and the cats. Barney liked walking outside, but he liked even better being with the SnuggleMonster and SuperGuy.
Over the next days and weeks, Barney kept doing his exercises and walking more and more. All with the help of his two powerful friends SuperGuy and the SnuggleMonster. And slowly he was able to do more and his stuffing hurt less and less and he didn't even think about the shiny metal inside of him. But Barney always thought about how much help his two powerful friends had been. He remembered how SuperGuy had given Barney a BIG HUMONGOUS SQUEEZE and told Barney that he loved him, and how then SnuggleMonster gave Barney a REALLY HUGE hug and said in sign language, "I love you!". Just thinking of how nice it was to have two such powerful friends made Barney happy and helped him heal his hurt stuffing.
The End!
Topic: Helping kids understand the process (Read 1803 times)
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