Before I knew that I had Perthes Disease in my left hip, I had some pain but mostly stiffness in my legs.  I walked with a limp and couldn't open my legs out to the side very far.

I went to the Birmingham Children's Hospital in November 2002 and had an x-ray on my hip, which showed that I had Perthes Disease.  I thought that it was something catching at first but the Physio said that it wasn't and that I needed to see Mr. O’Hara the Specialist.

Mr. O. Hara was very kind to me, but said that I would need an operation.  He said that he needed to do an examination under an anaesthetic so that he could have a better look at my hip.

On the 19th of May 2003 I had to go into Ward 16 for one day to have the examination under anaesthetic.  I had some magic cream on my hands to make them go numb and I played on the PlayStation while I waited to go to theatre.

I was very nervous when I went into the anaesthetic room.  I had to have a needle in my hands but I didn't feel anything.  The Anaesthetist said that I would start to feel sleepy and that's all I remember.  I went home that evening.  After this I had to do lots of physiotherapy exercises and stretches. 

When I went back to Mr. O. Hara, I had another x-ray and they found out that the disease was in my right hip as well.

I had my big operation on the 24th of November 2003 and I couldn't eat or drink that morning.  I was very nervous and was scared on that morning that something was going to go wrong but everything went well.  After the operation I felt very sick and sleepy at first.  I had some pain and sickness and a high temperature but the nurses were very good and gave me some medicine to help. 

After eight days I went home but I wasn't allowed to go upstairs so my bed had to be taken down stairs, I couldn't stand on my legs at all for six weeks.  I had to be in a wheelchair during this time.  I had to do lots of exercises then I went to the hydrotherapy pool, which was great.

I went back to the hospital after six weeks to see Mr. O. Hara.  I had more x-rays taken which showed that the bone was growing well.  I then had to walk with crutches for six weeks and do more exercises and lots of swimming!

I have had no pain at all since two weeks after my operation and I can now stretch my legs out much further and even sit with my legs crossed.  My muscles are getting much stronger too.

I am looking forward to running around and playing football, so I am going to keep doing my Physio exercises [they are never ending!]

Thank you very much to Mr. O. Hara and everyone at the Birmingham Children's Hospital, and the Physio's at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital who have helped me.

Joe Griffin aged 9                                                                                     February 2004