Jackinator

The Hip is Healed!

Hello Jackinator fans!  As I had hoped, I did not have any Perthes related info to post over the summer; Jack spent the last 6 months being a 'normal' kid.  A follow-up xray earlier this month showed that the ball of the hip has grown back and is contained in the socket, and the thigh bone is all filled in, where the plate & screws were.  The doctor said in a perfect world, it would be a more snug fit between ball & socket, but Jack has no pain and hardly limps at all.  And at this time, his leg length discrepancy is not an issue, so he's good to go!  He needs to stay active and can pretty much do what he wants, barring major contact sports.  Running is a great activity because it keeps the hip rotating and since Jack has a slight build, he's not putting undue strain on his hip.

Over the summer, Jack kept up his running and ran another 5K in September, again way faster than me, who has 2 normal hips.  He is able to ride a bike well now, and regularly bikes around the neighborhood with friends.  And after a 3 year wait, he finally got to play flag football, which he loved!  He was a receiver and scored several touchdowns, had some interceptions, one for a touchdown, and his team ended up winning the Super Bowl in their age group. 

Thanks to everyone for all of your support over the past 3 years; you certainly made a difficult situation much easier to get through.  We are all different because of this, but hopefully in a good way.

Here are some pictures from the summer and fall:

Climbing on the rocks in Jamestown with no (well, hardly any) worries.

 

Jack as King Richard in the summer play, Robin Hood.  He is still showing an interest in acting and is currently auditioning for his school play, Aladdin. 

 

Touring Gettysburg in 104 degree weather.

 

At the beach (with no crutches!!)

 

Jack can finally take the bus again!

 

Jack came home with about 140 pieces of candy; his hip didn't slow him down this year!

 

Watch out World, Jack is Back!

As of today, Jack is officially released to 'normal' activites, subject to approval by his mean mother.  No grass is growing under his feet - he starts training for his school's 5K on Monday! 

'Normal' Activities list:

• Soccer...no (Nana has a bad feeling about soccer and I always listen to Nana)
• Baseball...not this spring (sliding; need I say more?)
• Lacrosse...no (boys running around with sticks?  I don't think so)
• Aikido...maybe in late spring (I want to watch a class first)
• Swimming...yes (only 2 more months until the pool club opens!  We'll be swimming at the Y in the meantime)
• Running...yes (and lots of it!)
• Biking...yes (this is difficult for Jack so he's been resisting; we'll have to bribe him with donuts again)
• Flag Football...yes, in September (IF Jack does his 'boring exercises' and his left leg is strong enough; Dad will be putting together a 'football boot camp' this spring)

Jack has also been busy with rehearsals for his school play, Seussical Jr.  For you locals, the play is on April 6th, 7th and 8th at Forest Park and I will post ticket info soon.

Watch out world, Jack is back!

Steppin' Up

We met with the orthopedic doctor today.  Jack's incision is healing nicely but he still needs to take it easy for another 4 weeks.  He can start walking around the house & classroom without crutches, but no running or jumping yet; there is still a large wedge in his upper thigh bone that needs to fill in.  So, for recess and P.E. class, he will stay in a wheelchair because I think it would be impossible for him not to run, especially at recess.  In 2 weeks, he can start swimming so that'll be nice to get him active again & start building up his leg muscles, yet again.  In 4 weeks (just in time for Spring!) he can resume 'normal' activities.  For him, this will be training for his school's 5K, which the doctor said was an excellent activity to build up his leg strength.   He may also take a low-key Aikido class in late spring that doesn't involve being thrown to the mat!  In the fall, he can (finally) do flag football which he's been looking forward to for years. 

Hip hip hooray!

Pre-Op Post

We met with the orthopedic doctor today about the procedure to remove the plate from Jack's hip.  No unpleasant surprises.  The date is Tuesday, February 8th and the procedure will take about 2 hours.  As long as there are no complications and he's feeling up to it, he can go home that night.  He'll miss school the rest of that week and will be on crutches for a few weeks.  After 2 weeks, we'll have a follow-up appt. to see how his leg is healing.  I'm leaning toward a wheelchair for school since it worked out so well last year.  Then he'd still be able to 'play' at recess.  The doctor is not sure about Jack doing a spring sport BUT he will be able to participate in the 5K training program that I am coordinating for his school!  In fact, the doctor said that was a GREAT spring activity for him.  I am going to train with him but I won't be surprised if I can't keep up with him.  The training program starts the first week of spring and runs (ha ha) twice a week until the Forest Park "Fly Like an Eagle" 5K, which is May 22nd.

And, on another pleasant note, the Snowshoe Snowman that the kids built won a town Blizzard Photo Contest and a $25 gift certificate to a local hardware store! 

Two Years

It's 2 years today that Jack got the official diagnosis of Perthes Disease, of which we had never heard of before.  This Friday the 14th is the pre-op appt. with the orthopedic doctor where we'll get all the details about the procedure to remove the plate from Jack's hip.  The surgery date is February 8th.  Hopefully it'll be a relatively easy thing and Jack will be back on his feet within a few weeks.   He's come a long way:

     

Theatrics

Hello everyone - I spruced up the Jackinator blog for the Holidays so check it out!  As for Jack, there are a few things to report.  After his basketball practice yesterday (they do drills for 45 minutes and then have a free-for-all scrimmage for 15 minutes; more like tackle football than basketball), the track at the high school was open.  Jack asked if he could run on it and since it was warm (mid 40's as opposed to mid 20's like the past week) we said sure.  Well, he ran a 400 with a great pace & form, and then sprinted at the end!  No limp that I could detect and he's starting to get some lift in his steps, so that means his calves are getting stronger.  Looks like the water park boot camp really helped.  At least that's what I keep telling myself to keep the guilt at bay.

 

Next week, Jack is auditioning for his school play,Seussical Jr.  At first he was excited about it but now he's convinced he'll be the only boy.  We told him, if that is the case, then at least he'll get the lead male role! 

 

We also got the date to get the plate removed from his hip.  It'll be February 8th.  We have a pre-op appt. with the orthopedic doctor on January 14th so I'll get all the details about the procedure then.  Supposedly it's not a big deal.  Compared to a body cast for 7 1/2 weeks, then I guess it won't be a big deal!  I just hope he'll be able to participate in a spring activity, besides swimming.  His school hosts a 5K every spring.  I am coordinating a program for the 4th & 5th graders to train for the 5K and would love if Jack could participate.  The goal of the training program is to be able to complete the 5K, not necessarily to be able to run the whole thing.  I think it would be amazing if Jack could do this but of course we'll clear it with his doctor first.  We certainly don't want to undo everything we've done.  And there's always next year, a phrase Perthes families are very familiar with.

We would also like to wish Nana, Mom-Mom in Florida and Pop-Pop Tony a very Happy Birthday!

Yahoo!!!

We met with Jack's orthopedic doctor today.  He is off restrictions for the upcoming school year!  And when I asked if there was anything he couldn't do, she said No.  I kind of wish, though, that Jack didn't hear that!  He also had xrays today.  The doctor thinks there is some regrowth of the femoral head but it looked the same to me.  She's not one to just say something to make you feel better so I will take her word for it.  Next up will be getting the plate removed from his hip.  We're going to do that in the winter, probably right around the February vacation week.  It's supposedly simple to do and the recovery is only a couple of weeks.  After that, we'll allow him to join a spring baseball team.  I certainly won't be complaining during those endless games in terrible weather (right, Candie?? :)  For the winter, Jack will be able to participate in our town's rec basketball program, but we're going to have him take it easy in the fall.  He's still building up his leg strength and there's always the chance that if he falls on his bad hip, the plate could fracture his leg.  I am done with spica casts, so no flag football this fall, which Jack has been wanting to do for years now.  After the plate comes out, we're going to be tracking his leg length discrepancy.  Right now it's not that bad but if the bad leg ends up not growing at the same rate as the good leg, we'll have to do something about it.  However, that's for another day. 

Today it's all about YAHOO!!!!!

 

Bosu Ball

Jack actually enjoyed physcial therapy today!  He spent a lot of time balancing on a Bosu Ball and loved it.  Does anyone have one that we could borrow for a few weeks?  It's a great way to strengthen his legs and I think he would use one at home, without complaining.  At least in the beginning...

Green Light!

We got the green light for a good summer at Jack's follow-up appt. with his orthopedic doctor!  She said we can become a bit less protective of him and start weaning him off the crutches.  She even had him jog a little in her office!  He can swing a baseball bat and golf club, and ride a regular bike this summer.  He's going to keep up the physical therapy once a week and his daily exercises at home, plus do lots of swimming. 

Jack has expressed interest in golf, so I'm signing him up for the NK Jr. Golf School on Wednesdays, beginning June 23rd, if anyone else is interested.  I also want to plan a mini-celebration at that new mini-golf course in Exeter after school's out.  More on that soon!

6 Weeks PBC! (Post-Body Cast)

It'll be 6 weeks on Friday since Jack's been out of his spica cast.  These 6 weeks flew by, as opposed to the previous 6 weeks.  It's also been exactly 3 months since the surgery.  We are extremely glad that is all behind us.  Jack has a follow up appt. on Friday with the orthopedic doctor.  We're hoping for a green light for a good summer.  I'll post an update on Friday.

On a side note, I am reading the 3rd Harry Potter book to Jack.  Last night, Harry, Ron and Hermione were having Steak and Kidney Pie for dinner.  When Jack heard that, he said, 'Ewwwwww.  That sounds almost as gross as the things you make.'  I suppose that means I should stick to graphic arts, rather than culinary arts...