Aleksey fell ill at the end of October 2020. One evening, when I took him out of kindergarten, he limped very badly on his left leg. The next morning the limp and pain in his leg did not go away, so on the same day I turned to a traumatologist-orthopedist in Moscow. We were lucky, as the doctor immediately made the correct diagnosis (according to the X-ray examination): Perthes Disease on the left, stage 1-2.
We were prescribed a treatment consisting of nutritional support, physical therapy (electrophoresis, magnetotherapy) and physiotherapy exercises. They completely banned any weight bearing on his leg and recommended wearing a brace for at least 1 year. For me, this situation was a real shock. Yesterday my son was absolutely healthy, and today I must deprive him of the opportunity to move independently.
I am a doctor, and I understand that immobilizing a limb, especially with an orthosis or plaster cast, will inevitably lead to muscle atrophy and the development of contractures, therefore, I must make my child even worse with my own hands. In the same way, I treat osteotomy in young children without signs of pronounced limitation of mobility in the joints - by cutting the bone and fixing it with metal structures, we do not at all guarantee its normal growth and development, but on the contrary inflict even greater trauma on the body.
Knowing such convictions, I practically began to panic. Because in the big clinics in my country they could not offer me anything. Therefore, I began to read how Perthes Disease is treated abroad - and here again I faced the lack of a unified approach and view of this disease. I found a Facebook group “Perthes Foundation: Global Support Group for Legg-Calve Perthes Disease”, in which they helped me a lot both mentally and in finding a doctor. I had a dream, not to see my son waddling on crutches and crying that he is now not like other children and to find a doctor who will help us go further in the literal sense of the word.
Thanks to one of the parents from the Facebook group, I learned about Dr. Feldman and the Paley Institute clinic in West Palm Beach, FL. And at this clinic, children are not put in orthoses, but they find an opportunity to treat and rehabilitate patients with Perthes Disease without major surgeries. That is why I turned to this clinic with a request for a correspondence consultation.
The staff were very kind and attentive to me, supported and helped me maintain a positive mood. Not so long ago, we had our first consultation with Dr. Feldman, and we were glad that the doctor thinks that in our case it is possible not to perform operations and even not to use crutches. We do therapeutic exercises, go to the pool and hide Aleksey’s crutches in the far corner.
I really hope that the Paley Institute's approach will help Aleksey grow up to be a strong, physically and mentally healthy person without significant limitations.
Ekaterina
Aleksey’s Mom
