Help Amity Cartmill walk.

On the 27/10/2017 our Amity was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, a condition usually picked up at birth. Hip dysplasia is when, the ball at the top of your baby’s thighbone (the femoral head) isn't held in the cup-shaped socket in the pelvis. The ball is meant to be held in the socket by ligaments and muscles.
If your child has hip dysplasia, then the femoral head can move away from that normal position and your baby’s hip will not develop correctly, resulting in a hip dislocation like amity has. 

When amity was 10 months we noticed she couldn't walk properly and mentioned this to our GP at the time who told us nothing was wrong and it was all in my head. we then decided to escalate her care again to another GP who again shrugged it off and told us it was behavioural. we then mentioned it to a work colleague who sent us to another GP who requested an urgent x-ray and she was diagnosed the same day. 

We were then referred to lady cilento hospital and were seen within a month. The surgeon told us we were on the waiting list and we would be seen with in 3-4 months to have the surgery that would fix her condition, this was back in December 2017. 8 months have now passed, the surgeon failed to escalate amity's condition and failed to tell us the longer we wait the more severe the condition will become and harder more involved it is to fix. 

After waiting 8 months and constantly being let down by the public health system, where amity was continually overlooked and pushed further and further down the queue. Kerrin and I decided to seek another opinion and have been seen by a surgeon at the Mater childrens private. We were left with no other option but to go self funded in the private system because of how severe her condition has now become. 

In order to fix her hip our Amity will undergo a large orthopaedic procedure where she will have what is known as an Open reduction and a femoral and pelvic osteotomy, where her tiny hip will be cut in several places and then put back together with plates,pins,screws,wire and a thin mesh. She will then go into a spica cast for 6 weeks to protect the fragile bones in her hip. We have been told we need to come up with $20,000 in a month in order to have this done. If amity continues to wait for the public system to operate, the outcome will be worse as she will end up with a permanent disability and her quality of life as an adult will be lowered.

Amity is scheduled for surgery on the 13th september and will have to stay for 4 nights. not only do we have the cost of the surgery, but also accommodation so we can be near our daughter,a new pram and car seat to accommodate the cast, but also multiple physiotherapists appointments to help her rehabilitate. Amity will then be required to go back in for surgery 12 months after the initial procedure to remove all the hardware the surgeon will use. everything involved in this is an out of pocket expense that no family has lying around. 

Amity hasn't just been let down by the intial Doctors we saw but the entire public health system who failed to see a young child in desperate need of surgery and we are left to pick up the pieces. 

Kerrin and I never thought we would have to reach out for help, But at this point in time we need all the help we can get to give our little Amity the best possible outcome and hopefully a normal shot at life.

If you can help in any small way we appreciate it beyond words. We also ask that you share Amity story! We hope we can help anyone get early diagnosis! No child or family should have to go through what we are currently. xx