Loren’s Story

Site created on December 27, 2022

Welcome to Loren’s CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. 

A quick recap of what led up to today for those that are following along. A couple of years ago, Loren started complaining about hip pain. After failing to get any relief from physical therapy, we decided to bring her to UVA Orthopedics this past summer and get her hips thoroughly checked out. 

After several appointments with doctors and surgeons, X-rays, an MRI and a CT scan, the team was able to put together a complete picture of the structural abnormalities and damage that Loren has been dealing with. 

Her femoral heads are anteverted, or rotated too far inward, and at such an extreme angle that it causes her femur to hit parts of her hip socket that it shouldn’t. This has caused labral tears in both of her hip sockets, which is a rip in the cartilage that lines her hip socket. 

The doctors agreed that fixing the tear and impingement without addressing the underlying cause would be risking future tears, so it was determined that in order to fix her anteversion, she would also need to have a femoral derotational osteotomy on each leg. 

They agreed to start on her left leg, since that hip has the labral tear that is most painful, and then, depending on her recovery, her right leg a few months later. We’ve been informed that the recovery, particularly after the osteotomies, will be rather uncomfortable. She’ll find out at her two week post-op when she can go back to work and school. Both her employer and her school have already offered accommodations to make her as comfortable as possible when she is cleared to return. 

A huge thank you to those that donated items to make her recovery at home a bit more comfortable. We really appreciate the thoughtful donations that we hadn’t even considered! 

Doctors are optimistic for a full correction of the range of motion in both hips. By this time next year, she should be running around UVA grounds pain-free! We are so thankful for such a wonderful team of doctors and nurses at UVA Health as they take good care of their newest little Hoo! 

Newest Update

Loren’s senior prom

Journal entry by Courtney Seely —

Loren is now five weeks post op on the 2nd leg, and is doing incredibly well! On Friday, she finished her last day on medical homebound, and on Saturday she had a full day of pre-prom fun with her friends and even danced some last night, crutch-free! She’s pretty sore this morning, but in good spirits, and excited to get back to school on Monday for the remaining two weeks of her senior year. She’s got a lot to accomplish in the next two weeks - AP exams, culminating projects, lots of fun senior activities and graduation.   We’re now confident she’ll be able to handle that last part without crutches! Soon, she’ll be driving again, and looking back at all of this in her review mirror.  

Though this journey wasn’t at all what we had anticipated for her senior year when we first sought out an orthopedic consult for the pain in her hips last July, she has handled it all with grace and a deep appreciation for everyone who helped her along the way. Watching her face these challenges with such grit and determination has made us realize that she truly is well prepared for whatever life throws her way. As parents, we couldn’t ask for anything more. 

She will continue to work on strengthening her legs over the next year in physical therapy, and is looking forward to starting the next chapter of her life at UVA. Thanks for following along, everyone! 
Read More of the journal titled "Loren’s senior prom"
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