It was a good day (Part 3)…

We were simply deflated when we left the appointment in Memphis. He was not getting better, but nothing could be found. We were still two weeks away from the next appointment.

When we arrived to see the Physiatrist, the first thing they asked was what did we think was wrong. Honestly, we felt it probably was Osteochondritis Dissecans, but everyone had made us feel foolish for even asking, so we said nothing. The Physiatrist listened to my son’s complaints, watched him walk and then decided it was time to do another MRI, which was completed a week later.

In the meantime, of course, every person we knew was asking what was wrong. He was using a wheelchair at school, and we had no answers. One of my acquaintances is married to an orthopedic surgeon. He specializes in sports medicine. He felt the doctors were missing something (as they had discussed it like everyone else in town!). We asked him to look over the records and give his opinion. We also gave him a copy of the new MRI (with no report). Within an hour he called and said, “He has Osteochondritis Dissecans.” The next day we also received a call from the St. Louis surgeon’s office, confirming his diagnosis.

It took well over 6 months, multiple doctor visits and literally thousands of dollars in medical care to get this diagnosis. After a 6-week trial of complete rest, it was decided he needed surgery. We scheduled the surgery with the local orthopedist in July. It made for a long summer, but in the end, it was wonderful!  In 6-weeks the healing was strong and he was able to walk again for the first time in months. Initially it wasn’t very pretty, but it quickly began to look more and more normal.

If you had told me last spring that my son would be auditioning for a musical and doing cartwheels, I would have told you that was a dream I was afraid we would never see.  Okay, so maybe he still can’t do a full-on cartwheel, but he is getting there! We are so blessed to have him healthy again.

Never give up!