13 yo daughter looking at possible hip replacement

Posted by kjdadada @kjdadada, Oct 22, 2018

My 13 yo daughter has had slipped capital femural ephisis (SCFE). She had surgery last summer and again earlier this year and continues to struggle with activity. We are in a wait to see as her femur head may be collapsing and last visit a hip replacement was conversation was started although it would be a while away.

Lately my daughter is talking like she would want to do it so she can do things like bend over without pain and keep up with her friends.

We have a visit coming up next month, just looking for some questions that I may not know to ask yet. I'm starting to research it but love message boards just as much as reading articles.

Thanks in advance for your time to read and possibly reply.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Joint Replacements Support Group.

Justin McClanahan, Moderator | @JustinMcClanahan | Oct 23, 2018

Hello @kjdadada, welcome to Connect. While I did not have to deal with hip issues as a kid, I did have a lot of issues with my lower joints and can relate to how your daughter is feeling both physically and mentally. I was born with a genetic bleeding disorder that caused end-stage arthritis in my knee by the age of 12. It was around 12 that the physician's stated that the end result was always going to be a knee replacement. I am not a medical professional so I cannot give medical advice, but in my own experience I was advised that joint replacements before you are done growing can cause issues. I was able to hold out until I was 19, but that did have a lot of side-effects.

I loved sports and being active, so I had to quit many of the sports because of how bad my pain and swelling would get from activity. As a 12-year-old I wasn't able to be as rational as I would be now, so it was hard to deal with mentally. When I was having a bad day or week, I would get very irritable and short with friends and family. I was able to find alternatives to my love for sports as I started golf. I also found guitar to fill the role of challenging me, so I was able to find things to do, but to this day it still stays with me that I was not able to play all of the sports I was good at. I still feel like I missed out on team sports, but now I do have an alternative for that and I also have a better understanding of why.

@kjdadada, if you don't mind me asking and if you are comfortable sharing, have your daughter's providers talked about the hip replacement with you? Did they mention anything about growth plates or how it would affect her growth?

Debbra Williams, Alumna Mentor | @debbraw | Oct 25, 2018

Hi @kjdadada - I am so sorry to hear about what you are going through with your daughter. I have not had to deal with those particular issues, but I'm sure that it is a daunting journey. What a difficult decision to make when your child's little body has not yet matured. To me, it would be more difficult having a child go through this than if it were me myself. As a parent, we always want to protect and comfort them. I just wanted you to know that there is a lot of support out here in the Connect community and although I can't offer any advice, I'm a good listener if you want to vent or need a place to brainstorm! Please keep us posted on how things go.