Word Play: Day 5 Jimmy-Rays Perthes Update!!

UPDATE!!!

Jimmy-Ray in his petrie cast. He was limping this summer and we had an x-ray done which showed he had bi-lateral perthes. Perthes is a hip disorder where the ball of the femur looses blood flow. That part of the bone dies and collapses while the body absorbs and then re-grows the bone. The body goes thru several stages to fix itself. The casting helps keep the ball of his femur in the socket for correct healing. He is getting treated at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas. He will have the casts on until Dec. 19th when he is admitted again for at least 3 days to get them removed, some physical therapy and fitted for an A-frame brace that he will wear for 12 hours a day for 12 months. I had this 30 years ago in my left hip when I was ten. I was also treated at Scottish Rite. They have done an x-ray on me and said my hip looks perfect. Our family is taking part in a genetic study at Scottish Rite to see if there is a genetic link with perthes. If you notice your child limping or complaining of knee, thigh, hip or groin pain don’t assume that it is growing pains.

One handed wheely!!

So tomorrow is the big day. Jimmy-Ray has been in his petrie cast for 6 weeks and been a super trooper about the whole ordeal. Itching was really the biggest problem that he had. My wife did research on the petrie cast prior to his casting in November. One of our big concerns was his eczema flaring up on his legs. I am adding a link she found that was the most helpful in preparing for his casting. The very first night in the hospital he woke up crying that his legs were itching so bad he couldn’t handle it. The nurse offered medication which helped but took a little while. We used the tips from the blog I am attaching to get thru every night since then. They were simple but not suggested by any nurse that my son had. Simply make the room cooler, or down right freezing, and put ice packs on the cast. His only other big complaint has been missing going to school these past 6 weeks. He had a homebound teacher, which luckily was his current teacher at school, come out for an hour a day four days a week. We worried that we would be stuck at home for 6 weeks unable to transport Jimmy-Ray easily. The day they released him from Scottish Rite my wife thought for sure we would never get him out of her Suburban when she got home. Let alone be able to take him anywhere by herself. The staff that helped her load him unfortunately seemed to have never loaded a child with this type of casting before and totally stressed out my wife trying to maneuver Jimmy-Ray thru the truck door. When they got home I was able to easily pick him up and get him out on my own. And since then my wife has taken him by herself to the store and school events loading and unloading him by herself. I will be sure to give the hospital some tips on this when we go this week! See attached picture for my carrying technique. Check back this week for updates on Jimmy-Ray!

http://perthesjourney.blogspot.com/2009/05/review-of-our-petrie-cast-experience.html

My carrying technique.