Perthes Disease by Neil Evans

Before the operation

Before the operation I was in pain all the time. Life was difficult because I couldn’t do the things I wanted to do with my friends. I couldn’t run and play at school and I was too slow to be in the football team any more. I still went to swimming club but I wasn’t fast enough to race.

When Mum and Dad took me to see Mr O’Hara he said that although my hip was very bad he was surprised to see how strong my muscles were. This must have been all the swimming I was doing. He told me that there were two operations that might help me but first he needed to do a manipulation under anaesthetic to check which one was best for me. He decided on the Triple Pelvic Osteotomy.

The operation

I went in to Birmingham Children’s Hospital on Monday 31st March 2003 and Mr O’Hara did the operation the same day. When I came out I was sick from the anaesthetic and I had an epidural in my back, which meant I could not feel my legs.

The next day Leoni my physio came to see me and made me do exercises in bed. I found it really hard to do the exercises but in a few days she had me up on a zimmer frame and we went home on the following Tuesday.

Once I got home Jane my physio from Brecon came to see me and got me going up and down stairs on crutches in no time. I found it really hard at first but the exercises really worked and I went back to school four weeks after the operation and six weeks after I swam in the schools swimming championships.

Now

I have started High School and have no pain at all. I am now doing lots of sport again including: gymnastics, rock climbing and badminton. I still can’t run very far but it doesn’t worry me as life is back to how it was before I got the Perthes.

Thank you Mr O’Hara.