My daughter had corrective surgery at 6 months old. There were NO setbacks. That was my concern too. She healed really fast. The surgery for my daughter took about 6 hours. It was harder on us then it was for her. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, tell your family to look into asking their daughter's anesthesiologist ahead of time about using a CAUDAL BLOCK for her pain. This is similar to an epidural used in pain management for labor. It is a tad bit different. I HIGHLY recommend it. It gives their bodies a true rest without being overly drugged. My daughter was only given a pain killer once the caudal block was removed so she would not go from no pain to all pain. That was the only one drug she needed. After that dose she was doing so good we just gave her tylenol just in case. When she had the caudal block she ate and slept normally. And with these kids they need all the help they can get to help reduce the stress put on them. I put alot of credit on this pain management. That and alot of prayers. She will be fine. At the time my daughter had her's done she loved walking in her walker. I asked the doctor about it and he said just to keep her out of it because of the strain on her groin area for I think it was a week. It never held her back from anything. I stayed the entire time with her in the hospital. I believe it was about 4 days. She is almost three now. The only problem we had was a urinary tract infection I think months later. The doctor was not sure what the cause was. We kept her on a low dose of antibiotics for one year to be safe. Knock on wood she has been fine. I will keep your niece in my prayers. Good Luck.