Andrew's Plight
May 15th 1999, a beautiful baby boy was born into our family. During pregnancy I was told that he had would be born with birth-defects. He was born with PFFD and the fibula on both legs was underdeveloped.
We wanted him to have a normal life and we didn't know who to turn to to get the help we needed. We turned to Shriner's Hospital in St. Louis. He was fitted for a procesthesis at the age of one. This was a pilon at the bottom of his shoe. He couldn't keep his ballance but at that time it was all the knowledge that was available to us as parents and we trusted the men in white. Between age 1 to 3yrs, we were told that the Van Ness or amputation was the only two options available and one or the other needed to be done by the age of 4 . During this time, he was fitted for two other prosthesis that caused him pain while walking. We prayed that there would be other options open to us and that God would guide us as to what direction we needed to follow.
As parents the options given wasn't what we wanted for our son. If any decision was to be made about putting our son through painful operations or taking off part of his body, it would be his choice.
I was desparate for an alternative, so I got a computer and went on line to look for options. I came across a doctor out of California, Dr. Moseley. We started e-mail that lasted for about 3 months. He said he could help Andrew without surgery with a prosthesis he designed to help him walk that would be natural. We watched a video of several children that he had helped with his prosthesis. If you have ever seen a child walk with the Van Ness proccedure done vs. Dr. Moseley's prosthesis you would never understand why the Van Ness isn't outlawed. The only explaination that was given to us why the Van Ness procedure is done was that it was strickly for cosmetic reasons and to make the prosthesis that was designed by Dr. Moseley would take too much work for the prosthetist. No one wanted to see a small foot sticking out above a prosthetic foot and to turn the foot around and hide it was more acceptable to society.
Through our church and friends, we were able to fly to California and meet Dr. Moseley for the first time. The man was awesome. He was concerned for Andrews well being as well as ours. That was a first for us because during our visits to other doctors they were so clinical and set in a routine they forgot about the individual they were treating.
Andrew was fitted and started wearing his brace. This was the first time he hadn't complained about a prosthesis hurting him. He wears it today without a second thought to any discomfort the other prosthetics had given him.
Andrew is attending pre-school this year. He wears his prosthesis everyday. The children are courious and ask him questions about his leg. Andrew's proud to tell them all about (what he calls his third leg) prosthesis. He is involved in all the activities at school and doesn't think of himself as having a handicap.
He, along with our other two boys, is a gift from God. He does have a purpose for being the way he is. If his story can help other children born with PFFD avoid painful surgeries, enlighten parents to research alternatives and not be afraid to let their child develope normally as God intended, than Andrews life has reached at least one of his purposes here on earth. We thank God every night for bringing us together with Dr. Moseley and his wonderful prosthetic design.
Contact Barbara at babs922@mo-net.com