It was September 2007 when we found out we were going to be parents. We were thrilled at the new adventure ahead of us. Little did we know what God had in store for us. During our routine 20 week anatomy ultrasound we were told that baby Petraske had a short right femur bone and that it would never "catch up" to the other femur. They were not sure what else could be wrong and told me I would have to go see a high risk OB and get a level 2 ultrasound to check for other abnormalities. Our hearts broke for our son, what would this mean for him? Would he ever be able to walk? Would he need a wheel chair? Was it a bone disorder that affected other bones in his body? Was it a genetic disorder? We had tons of questions and little answers. We prayed and asked God for some guidance and comfort then turned our search to the Internet, where we found the PFFD website and Dr. Paley. Its been a LONG journey since then. Long story short, we had several MRI's and visits with Dr. Paley to determine his plan for fixing Jake's right hip, right knee and lengthening of his right femur bone.
Which brings us to August 2012. We are going down to West Palm Beach, FL for 12 days to have Jake's "Super Hip 2" and "Super Knee" surgeries, which is basically a reconstruction and stabilization of his hip socket and knee. We won't know completely if Dr. Paley can reconstruct and stabilize Jake's hip until he performs the surgery. Please keep Jake and Dr. Paley in your thoughts and prayers.
Jake will have a metal external fixator brace on his right leg from his hip to just bellow his knee for about 4 months. If all goes well with the reconstruction and stabilization of Jake's hip and knee we will explore leg lengthening surgery in about 3 years.
We really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers from our family and friends. Charles and I will keep this blog updated with details of our journey and with Jake's progress through surgery and recovery.
