New hope…

On 1st October we were in Munich to consult with dr Paley (world-renowned orthopedic surgeon, dealing mainly with fibular hemimelia – Antosia’s defect). It was supposed to be the last consultation, because how long can one travel just to consult…

In Poland we went to apparently the greatest doctors, professors, pediatric orthopedics. We were in Sosnowiec, Cracow, Poznan, Warsaw. We have heard everywhere that predictions are unclear, nowhere have we got any definite treatment plan. We have heard everywhere, that the child is small and we have to wait for serious operations… The plan was to straighten the tibias (so that they would be straight in case of amputation). Written diagnosis was only given in Poznan, which stated that “right leg will never be functional”, proposed amputation – before age of 5 years.

Reading stories by parents extolling dr Paley I thought that the opinions are kind of american, a little bit exaggerated, all of them with a happy end. I didn’t really believe in such diversity of opinions… But, if there is hope, we have to try. We have and I don’t regret it. Dr Paley presented his idea of treatment. He told us about His experience, and the plan of ttreatment proposed for Antosia.

The Doctor is convinced that Antosia will cope very well while walking and even running. The gait will be esthetic, functionally her legs will work like the high-end prosthesis. He cured over one thousand children with fibular hemimelia with His method from 1996 with very high success, including 70 children with bilateral defects. The only limitation for our child can be jumping… But that’s not a big issue… She does not have to be a volleyball player. 🙂

Everything is wonderful, except surgery costs. They will be somewhere around a million zlotys. Detailed cost estimate will be e-mailed to us when the Doctor will return to the U.S. We do not worry about the costs for a while. I am so happy now that there is a chance, that there is hope, that I could move mountains…:)