Usually at this time of year I waffle on about resolutions and how life is going to be much better as a result of them but this year I’m not doing that, partly because resolutions never last the distance and more importantly because I have realised that life just doesn’t let you do as you plan as much as you might think! Planning to eat less, exercise more and so on are all well and go until something happens…
Towards the end of 2013 Pixie had a nasty accident that resulted in a broken collar bone which meant six weeks of pain, frustration and learning how to tie slings, at about the same time my seven year old Imp started to limp. We had two dr visits which yielded a diagnosis of strained muscles, not too unrealistic as he is active and may well have pulled something. After the suggested rest and pain relief he was still limping and a MRI scan revealed he had something called Perthes disease!
To say I was all at sea would be an understatement, myself and Mr T were both hoping that it would be something called Irritable hip which is self limiting and lasts only a few weeks, Perthes is self limiting but much longer lasting and getting the right treatment is paramount to avoid problems in later life. Perhaps this is the most difficult part. He is in the group of 6-8 year old boys which show the most variability. We meet with an orthopaedic doctor tomorrow and I have everything crossed that he is in the group that require watchful management, maybe some physio, regular scans but no ‘active’ treatment. Depending on the severity however he could require crutches or even corrective surgery, some of it may be further down the line.
Perthes is a new disease to me, so lots of research has been done but until we know exactly what is happening with Imp we have no idea how high the mountain we have to climb is! Basically at some point the blood flow to the femoral bone was interrupted causing it to die, it basically rots is reabsorbed and then regrows so recovery is possible. The whole process can take from a year to three of four. Depending on how the bone regrows is how aggressive the treatment needs to be, as well as how much of the hip is involved in the initial phases.
Cruelly for young children the best treatment seems to be rest, particularly from sports such as football and rugby. In all probability he will need to avoid football, rugby, go-karting and so on for at least a year, swimming is in and hopefully some of the other things he enjoys. Telling him he can no longer go and do things he enjoys has been difficult and in some ways we are looking forward to the next appointment and getting a better idea of what we need to be doing. Perhaps the hardest things however is watching him limp and being in pain and knowing there is absolutely nothing I can do about it! I can’t take it away or make it go faster and we have noticed that instead of telling him no to run about we’re asking him how bad the pain is today?
Currently the weather is helping, running about and going to the park is out but at the moment the X-box and games are providing the entertainment and we are keeping it together. One of the saddest things so far happened when we were on the way to an appointment and we passed the local park and he said, ‘sorry I can’t come to the park at the moment because it hurts!’ Questions start to pop into your head as well, what about the holiday in October, if he can’t currently walk to the local shop and back without being in pain, how will he manage the theme parks? Will he be able to go on any of the rides? What about other trips we have booked, will they be affected and school, what about games and all the stairs in the building?
I know there are far worse conditions out there but at the moment this does seem dreadful for him, we also know there is a genetic factor so we are watching the girls for signs of the same problem, luckily Hpops with all the activity she does and being 9 already should be OK, Pixie however is coming into the age group where things start to develop!
So there are things I want to achieve in 2014. I want to finish the kids books I have been writing for ages, the sequel to Tumbling and to finish the book I began for NaNoWriMo, but mostly I want to take advantage of good opportunities that come my way, enjoy my family and try to make success of my job. Wish us luck as this is an adventure we weren’t really counting on!
