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"I found your website while doing some research through medical journals. I would like to tell you my personal story...
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I am 40 years old and was born with double dislocated hips. I couldn't crawl or stand or sit in a walker. My grandmother took me to her chiropractor who told her what was wrong with me and gave them the name of the Shriner's Hospital in Augusta, GA. The late Dr. Robert McKnight was the surgeon who operated on me.
I was 18 months old and in a full body cast for an entire year. For the next 3 1/2 years (until I was 6), I wore hip braces 24 hours a day. I think Mom still has the last brace I wore stored somewhere in the attic! |
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I also had 3 brothers who taught me how to climb trees while wearing the braces -- and parents who were extremely over-protective.
All I ever heard was "You can't do that because of your hips." I have worked the past 23 years doing exactly the opposite of what I was told. (Imagine being told you could only work as a secretary and that the only form of exercise was golf!) Inside work is boring as the dickens, and golf puts me to sleep. I did not consider either to be an option in my life.
I could climb trees by the time I reached the age of 7, swim since I was 12, learned how to rollerskate when I was 15, play tennis, baseball, and walk every day. I am a mother of 2, have worked as a grill operator, waitress, warehouse laborer, and construction worker ( on a power plant 1000' above the solid ground!)
I'd like to tell parents that even though their children may have disabilities, to encourage them to reach their potentials. Never tell a child "You can't." They will eventually learn their limits. (At the age of 40, I have given up climbing trees!)
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| I've included a photo of me and my 4 yr old niece. She has epilepsy and surgery is not an option for her. I am looking for help for her. |
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| Update March 24th, 2003: my 6 year old nephew (Courtney's brother) is now suffering grand mal seizures. They started the middle of February, and I am just now finding out! He'd had febrile seizures while he was teething, but had not had any in 4 years. His doctors had been telling his parents they were going to wean him off the Depakote he's been taking this coming June. All of that is now obviously changed. So, I am now on a "double mission" for Courtney AND Wayne. |
visit Courtney's site to learn about epilepsy. |
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