Starting from the beginning...

Tell me a bit about you?  I’m Jade, I’m a mum of 3 from Yorkshire. I have a 5 year old son, and daughters aged 3 and 10 months! What is your limb difference? My youngest daughter Ottilie has a condition called PFFD, this means her right femur is shorter than it should be. It also normally affects the knee and hip.  When did your parents find out? We found out when Ottilie was around 6 hours old! The midwife was doing the newborn checks on her as we were desperate to get home and introduce Ottilie to her big brother and sister. Unfortunately this went out the window when they realised her leg length difference and we had to stay in hospital for 3 nights whilst she was tested for all kinds of things (limb differences can also be markers for other conditions such as Down’s syndrome). It was so hard seeing the X-ray she had done on the day she was born, clearly showing her shorter bone, which was also curved(quite typical with pffd).  What h...

We are now 7 months into 2019, so I have decided to look back at the past 7 months and pass on a few things I have learnt .... I must admit, turning 30 has been a hard one. I' m not feeling it and I usually LOVE birthdays ... but I reckon this year might eventually be on to something. 1) Its okay to sit still - and I don't mean literally sitting still. I mean being able to just take each day for what it is. This year I have decided to do a 'No change year'. I have this annoying habit of having a need to keep busy, do things, take on extra things, have babies, get a pet, move house etc ... and I decided with the help of my friends to try and stop these habits.  Oddly I felt that changing something would make things better. Most of the time I wasn't really sure what I was trying to make better, but I had a feeling inside that something NEEDED to change. Little did I know that doing the opposite works even better. Don't get me wrong it has been SO hard...

Tell me a bit about you/your family? Our family is made up of me, Kimberley, my partner, John, and our son, 14 month old Thomas. We also have a crazy dog called Harper. What is your/your childs' limb difference? Thomas has left foot talipes, also known as clubfoot.  When did you/your parents find out?  We found out during an antenatal scan. Would have been around the 16-18 week mark.  What help and support have you been offered? When we found out originally at the scan, the information we got was extremely limited. The staff said that he may just need a couple of casts, bit of physio. They seemed quite dismissive of it. We didn’t realise the extent of treatment until after Thomas was born, and we met with his first orthopedic consultant.  What are the positives about your/your child's limb difference? Everything that involves his beautiful little feet is just that bit extra special. Wat...

Tell me a bit about you? So about me I’m 31 years old and married to the most fantastic wife, Anna. We seem to spend most of our free time in the gym or out and about walking with our two maniac dogs. I do quite a bit walking with friends as well (will go into this a bit more in a bit) Work wise - since the age of 20 Ive worked in the Prison Service. For the first 8 of them on the landings as a prison officer and although now I am in a more specialist role I am still operational so still working with prisoners - though theres also a lot more time in an office with a computer too now. What is your limb difference?   My limb difference is that I was born with a talipes foot. My left foot. Its unilateral (just the one) and the doctors said it was caused by my position in the womb.  By all accounts my foot was quite significantly turned in and twisted upside down. Strangely it turns out my wife’s sister (Ginny) also had the same prob...