Good news, so-so news.....

Simon had his check-in with Orthopedist Dr. Turker today. We ended up having xrays which we didn't expect, but I'm always happy for because I get to see what's happening under the skin!

Good news is that things aren't worse. The growing bone looks aligned with the top of the femur. His ROM is better than before the casts. He is active and not in pain, and not really limping (barely noticeable).

The so-so news is that there is still a deformation so to speak or growth outside of the socket. Dr. Turker states that this will not go away. If it remains stable and does not get worse, and the rest of the bone aligns with the top of the femur, then we probably won't need surgery. These are a lot of ifs and he is cautiously optimistic. However, even he says he cannot say what will happen next. No one knows with Perthes disease what the next xrays will show. Simon's right leg will also probably be slightly shorter than the left and this may cause some problems later on. Still unknown.

So we will just continue onward. Swimming twice a week. Biking as we can. I will do some small form of stretching exercises, as Simon tolerates and does not cause pain. Dr. Turker feels that when a child is in pain from stretching exercises, they will not move freely because of that pain and it will further cause stiffness and possible poor regrowth in the joint. Again, with this illness, there are so many different schools of thought! I often hear parents state they saw three doctors who all told them different things or ways to treat Perthes. And this is true. Even the doctors we saw (three different doctors) confirmed the wide differences in treatment for this illness! So we are going to have faith and trust our doctor and hope we have a positive outcome. He wants to see Simon back in about 2 1/2 months with more xrays so that will be right before school starts in the Fall.

So we will forge ahead with summer plans and enjoy!