Today, my son auditioned for a part in an upcoming musical at his school. The process requires three different auditions. Today’s audition was dancing. I know, you are so excited for us and you are saying, “Congratulations, I hope he gets a part”! It seems rather simple and mundane, except that it isn’t. Six months ago my son could not walk. The six months prior to that he spent in a wheelchair. It was not a happy time!
In April of 2011, my son started complaining of leg pain. His pain was very non-specific, yet very focused. He would occasionally limp as he was leaving school in the afternoons. By summer, the limping became worse. By fall, his pain and limping was interfering with PE and daily activities.
We took him to see a Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. He had x-rays and an exam. The doctor diagnosed him with tight hamstrings and heel cords and recommended 6 weeks of physical therapy (once a week) and no PE. We found that the physical therapy didn’t really help much, and my son had two excruciating episodes of not being able to bear weight on that leg. We returned to the surgeon where he still felt the diagnosis was correct and he wrote a new order for 12 weeks more of physical therapy.
Just after the 12th session, and without any increased “attacks”, we left for Walt Disney World and a Disney cruise. Our first night we attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. My son made it through about 3 hours in the park, and then, you guessed it, was limping again. The next day we drove to Port Canaveral and it was obvious he was in tremendous pain. He could hardly bare weight on his leg. He spent most of that cruise in the room, only leaving for dinner each evening. Within a week, we were home and walking was too painful. An MRI was ordered, but the results were mostly normal. We started using a wheelchair and waited for our next follow-up visit with the surgeon in January.