About three years ago my daughter's dance teacher took us aside and told us that she thought that there was a slight difference in the length of my daughter's legs. She had noticed this because she was paying particular attention to the posture of the girls in the ballet class. Up until then we hadn't noticed that anything was wrong ~ but when we looked more closely we did see that she definitely had problems when she was trying to stand up straight. We promptly made an appointment with the doctor and the doctor did indeed confirm that there was definitely a difference in the length of her legs by about 1.5 centimetres. The correct term for this condition is Leg Length Discrepancy.
We were then referred to a Paediatric Orthopedic Consultant so that her legs could be monitored by X rays and MRI scans to see if the discrepancy became worse. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years it has now gotten to the stage where the difference is 3.4 centimetres ~ which is now fairly significant.
Whilst this is not really bothering her at the moment ~ it could have major implications later in her life if it starts to affect her back and spine.
Tomorrow she is being admitted in to hospital to have an operation to take growth cells from the knee joint of her longer leg so that hopefully her shorter leg will catch up when she takes her biggest growth spurt as she approaches puberty. She is absolutely terrified! She has a huge fear of all things medical ~ mostly needles ~ and although we have managed to successfully avoid these things in the past she will obviously need to have an anaesthetic which will obviously involve a needle.
I know that she is going to find this whole experience incredibly difficult and there is no doubt that she is going to be in some amount of pain afterwards. I really wish that I could change places with her and that it was me instead of her that was going to have to go through the operation tomorrow.
I am trying desperately to remain calm but inside I am terrified too! xx
14 comments:
Jackie, my thoughts are with you. My son had to have an operation when he was 10 months old. It is terrifying. All will be fine. I remember taking my crochet with me when he went in, but I couldn't concentrate on it. Best of luck for you all. Keep us posted. Much love and sending positive thoughts your way. Clare x
I hope all goes well tomorrow and that the operation is successful.
Good luck for tomorrow. I hope it all goes well and isn't too scary for either of you. xxx
Honey, I know how you feel, my daughter had open heart (mitral valve) surgery a few days after her 9th birthday, she is now 15 and I am so glad it was found age 6 and then treated so incredibly early, otherwise she would be in trouble now.
She did ballet too.
(Unfortunately she now has severe needle phobia and won't have any vaccinations at all at the moment, which is hard to deal with).
Your daughter wants to grow big and strong and dance like Darcey Bussell, maybe, if it is manageable could you take her to see a ballet when she is feeling better. We saw Swan Lake and our daughter was completely overwhelmed by it.
It is hard to deal with something that we feel we are 'putting' our children through even though it is truly for the best.
Love and best wishes to you and your daughter. x
Stay calm n am sure prayers work wonders in this situations. My heart n wishes for her n more to you for strength.
Best of luck to her, and to you. I hope it all goes very well. Juliex
Sending lots of love and thoughts to you and all your family for tomorrow. xx
Sending you both lots of Bloggy strength and hugs! It's horrible to see them going through any sort of procedure, I'd be the same, want to swap places in a second! I'm sure everything will be fine, it's amazing what the doctors can do. Let us know how she is :)
Good luck and best wishes to both of you. It's hard enough when the kids are under the weather - I can't imagine what it must be like to take a child into hospital for a procedure or operation. I really hope it goes well and that she recovers quickly, and that you are ok too. xx
Praying for you and your daughter. It isn't easy for her and you. But sometimes the thought of something is worse than the actual thing you are afraid of. Hang in there..
Hope it goes well. Medical science is amazing these days, isn't it. I expect it's hard for your daughter to understand that this is the best thing in the long run.
Thinking of you both - your first paragraph really leapt out at me because both of our boys have this condition, with Son 1 having it at a serious level. Here in France they've handled it with a different operation ('staples' above and below the knee of the longer leg, until the shorter one catches up), so we've had the first op to put the staples in, and he'll have the second in a year's time, perhaps. I really do identify with your feelings and I pray that all is going, and continues to, go well for you and your lovely daughter. We are so lucky that we have medical services that can and will do this for our children.
Just read this. Hope it all went well. Hugs.
(((Hugs))) I hope all went well for your daughter and for you.
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