FIRST DAY

Another lazy day.  The weather has been cold and rainy today so I wasn't encouraged to go out.  I have even had the central heating on.  Which meant I had 2 very happy kitties.  They love the warmth.

I decided to go with Throwback Thursday again even though its officially finished.  Its that time of year when children go back to school so I dug out this old photo.  8th September 1987 - Becky's first day at school and Neil's first day at Playgroup. 

What I didn't know when I took this shot was that Neil would only go to Playgroup for one day and then he would be in hospital for a month in traction, in plasters to both legs for 6 months and unable to walk and then told not to run around for a year. 

The day after this shot was taken we had a doctors appointment as Neil was limping a bit - we thought he had a problem with his knee.  The doctor sent us straight to the hospital for an X Ray. Turns out Neil  had Perthe's Disease - a childhood hip disorder initiated by a disruption of blood flow to the ball of the femur. Due to the lack of blood flow the bone dies leading to some degree of collapse and deformity of the femoral head. Instead of being round it is flattened.  The treatment was to keep the hip immobile to let the bone grow again.

During Neil's month long hospital stay I spent every day at the hospital with him but had to come home at night to look after Becky and keep the home going.  It was heartbraking to leave him there every evening as he always cried.  Poor little soul,  He had just turned 3 years old.  It was a great day when we got him home - in plasters.  I managed to get a large buggy from the hospital so I could get him out of the house and the lady who ran the Playgroup said he could attend and she would look out for him.  He loved going even though he could just shuffle around on his bottom.  The other kids were a bit wary of him at first.

The best day was when he got his plasters off and could stand up.  The look on his face when he WALKED into Playgroup and joined the other kids and was wonderful.  He wasn't allowed to run around and this still applied when he started school the next year.  At play time he just had to walk round the yard with the Dinner Nanny.  Another great day was when the hospital consultant said all was well and he could finally run.  And he has been running ever since.

It was a bad time for us but we were thankful that his problem was something which could be treated.  When you think of all the terrible illnesses a child could get at least Neil got something which hasn't affected him for the rest of his life.

By the way that horrible wallpaper was up in our hallway when we moved into this house in 1984.  I hated it then and I still hate it.  However I haven't got round to doing anything about it.  I'm an expert in procrastination.

Steps today - a measly 2,818