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Cassidy's Story

CHAPTER MENU (Click arrow at right for drop-down menu) CHAPTER 1- Birth (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 2- Suspicions/diagnosis (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 3- First Surgery (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 4- First recovery (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 5- Second surgery (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 6- Second recovery (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 7- Third surgery (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 8- Third recovery (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 9- Progress report (Click 'GO' to open page) CHAPTER 10- Updates/Fourth surgery (Click 'GO' to open page)CHAPTER 11- Further Updates (Click 'GO' to open page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Further Updates

Most recent updates listed LAST.
July 2008
Well, what a lot of time has passed since I last updated here! Cassidy has been having her regular check ups at the RCH. At the last one, we were told to return in two years, rather than one. I must say it feels very strange to have skipped a year. The orthotic shoe insert they gave her is now a few years old and is in dire need of replacement, so we are eager for an appointment! She will most likely still need to wear an insert, as her leg length discrepency is still present and she still has a slight limp. Her pain levels are relatively low but can flare up if she walks any long distance. She is still very active and health concious.

Cassidy is 17 years old and at the end of her schooling -she will finish Year 12 this year. She is quite a talented musician, concentrating mainly on piano and voice, but also dabbling with guitar; violin; bodhran; tin whistle and her true love, the harp. Currently she is working her way through the Australian Music Examination Board grades, with the aim of eventually attending University for a Bachelor of Music, preferrably majoring in either harp or voice. She plans to defer her studies for a year, concentrating solely on her music grade studies for that year, before starting her tertiary studies.
Cassidy loves all things Irish and has aspirations to continue her music studies in Ireland in the next few years.
I will update again after Cassidy has her next appointment or if we have anything exciting to report. Stay tuned!

May 2009
Cassidy had her last appointment at the Royal Children's Hospital recently. (So sad to be leaving the RCH as it was like a second home to us!) Her hips are stable at the moment and won't need further treatment in the immediate future. Her orthotic insert has been thrown away as it was not making much of a difference to her slight limp.
Cassy turns 18 this year (how the years fly by!) so from now on she will attend the Austin Hospital as it is closest to where she currently lives.
Speaking of which, Cassidy has left home! It was a sad but exciting time for us, only made bearable by the fact that she is pursuing her dreams. Below is a local newspaper article which sums up everything which has happened in the last few months:

Casterton born Cassidy Hill-Davidson will head to Melbourne soon after successfully auditioning at the Victorian College of the Arts.
"Seventeen year old Cassidy will begin tertiary studies towards a Bachelor of Music in the Foundation Program at Australia’s leading performing arts training institution, which is a faculty of the University of Melbourne. She intends to combine the Bachelor of Music with a Bachelor of Arts as sequential double degree. The panel of auditioning judges were amazed with Cassidy’s proficiency on the harp, given she had only had four lessons.
“They said that it must be a record,” laughed Cassidy, “I practiced the harp for hours every day for 2 months before the audition and my fingers are finally toughening up and recovering from the blisters! But it was all worth it!”
Previously studying piano and music theory locally for two years with Lisa Gartlan-Betinski and via Distance Education at the Casterton Secondary College, Cassidy decided to follow her dream of studying the harp after a visit to the VCA on Open Day in August 2008r.
“The visit to the VCA inspired me to think about what I really wanted to do with my life,” said Cassidy, “I have always dreamed of playing the harp and with my parents’ and Lisa’s encouragement, I decided to transition from piano to harp and give the audition a go.”
With no harp teacher in the district, Cassidy travelled to Ballarat for intensive lessons with VCA harp teacher Jacinta Dennett, covering years worth of study in just 2 months. The problem of an instrument to practice on was solved when Cassidy’s mum, Catriona located a rare hire harp in Adelaide, with Cassidy eagerly contributing her recent prize-money from the Australian Danny Boy Championships towards the hire costs.
“It went to a good cause,” smiled Cassidy. “I know I’m in for years of hard work, but I love music -this really is a dream come true.”

So that's it in a nutshell. Cassidy recently participated in her first performance with an orchestra, playing in Debussy’s 'Trois Nocturnes' with the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. (Photos here)
Her studies are going very well and she regularly walks about 2 kilometers a day with minimal discomfort.

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