PFFD VSG2

Lots of pictures...

Here is the first prosthesis I used, before I had my 'little foot' amputated.

The ones of me sitting on the floor with the package are me opening my first 'bending leg'. After my amputation I wore a straight leg prosthesis (as in the picture when I'm sitting on the floor). Back in the day, they would just mail you your leg, isn't that funny? I remember they would make it a little taller than normal so that I'd grow into it. Whew!

Here is also a picture of my lovely family, one of me and my oldest daughter dancing.

I was born in 1977. My father is a police officer and my mother is a famous doll maker. When my mother was pregnant, ultrasounds were not the norm, so my parents had no idea about my limb deficiency. My mother says she would tell the doctor something felt different throughout her pregnancy. "This one doesn't kick as much", she would tell him, comparing me to her two other normal pregnancies 10 and 8 years prior. When I was born, I was taken away without explanation and my parents were left to imagine the worst (anyone see 'It's Alive'?).

This is my daughter and I at a cabin on summer vacation. She was such a little doll.
I remember after Barb and I got married, and we decided to have a baby, we wanted to know what the odds were of having
a baby with birth defects like mine. I went to a genetic clinic, and went through all sorts of tests, and had many x-rays taken of me.

The last three weeks (since the People article on Lilly and Maya) have been quite exciting for me. To learn what my condition (no longer called a disability) really is called and to know that there are so many people who either have, or have children that have PFFD, has made me feel much more complete and much more at peace with myself than I ever have before. Actually emailing and talking to Lilly and Maya's Moms has brought me to a point of unbelievable respect and admiration for my own parents, who have died.

Okay. So i have finally worked out a plan with my daughters doctor (she has seen her for the past two years and is amazing). We call it the sit and wait game!!! I love it. We were told early on that Kayla wouldn't walk roll over or crawl. They were all wrong. My daughter is very stubborn ( don't know where she gets it from-lol). When she wants to do something you had better hope that you are a part of it or you will have to clean up the outcome of whatever project she has gotten into her head. She would sit and watch my son running circles around her and stealing toys silently.

Here are a few more pictures of me when I was very young.

This one I think was on Easter, and I think I must have been around four. My sister was kneeling so you can see how tiny I was.

The last time I posted, we were still looking at treatment options for my son Kinnick, who is unilateral PFFD in his left leg, with a good hip, very short femur, and absent fibula. That was over a year ago.
Well, we have since chosen a Symes amputation and prosthetic for Kinnick. He had surgery the week of his first birthday in March at Shriners Hospital in Minneapolis, MN. He got his prosthetic in the middle of April. He started walking a few weeks ago right at 16 months! We are so proud of him and are amazed by his progess everyday!