Personal Narrative: Legg-Calve Perthes Disease

When I was two, I reverted back to crawling, and when my parents tried to stand me up, I would scream at the top of my lungs. My parents were nervous and worried because they didn’t know what was going on. They went from doctor-to-doctor at the WPAFB hospital for three years searching for a diagnosis, but none came. Until finally, we went to Children's Hospital and they diagnosed me almost immediately, and said “ Why didn’t you come here sooner.” They said that if we didn't act soon, I could be permanently paralyzed and would have to have a wheelchair for the rest of my life. What they diagnosed me with was Legg-Calve Perthes Disease.I had not known about any of this until about a month later, after school one day. I was baffled, and was scared of surgeries. About a month later, we were pulling up to the Cincinnati Children's parking lot to have my surgeries. It was quite a fight to get there, but I eventually calmed down and got in the car. I was prepped and told what they were going to do and finally I heard the words “It’s time.” They pushed me down the hall in a stretcher to the anesthesia room to put me under. The ride there seemed
But before I could eat anything, I had to take my pain medicine. They put my medicine in chocolate pudding, and it tasted horrible. They said chocolate pudding will taste like the medicated pudding for the rest of my life, so I was ecstatic to hear that. That night I had to wake up every three hours to get an I.V. and every time it took about 15 different tries to finally get it in. I had bandages all over. After about three weeks they give me a wheelchair and a walker to take home. Finally, I was cleared to go home! I had a cast that spread my legs out at a 90 degree angle. It was awful. My leg surgery changed my life. I am glad I had the surgery. Everyday, I’m thankful for the ability to