My daugter will be 2 in october. When she was 6 months old she had a problem with her neck it was called torticollis. She under went physical therapy to correct this. For those who aren't sure what it is its basically where here neck pulled her head to her left shoulder more looked like a stiff neck. When she started to walk at 16 months old we my mother and i noticed her left leg was kind of bowed out at the knee. We took her to our family doctor and he said she was fine she would grow out of it.I didn't like that answer so i took her to pediactrics associates and they said the bone in her ankle grew crooked, but they just wanted to watch her because it seemed to cause her no problems. But if it didn't get better then surgery to correct it would be something i should think about.The more we watch her late at night her left leg gives out on her quite abit and she will hold her left leg. Now when it comes to falling or getting shots, anything on her left side she pays no attention to almost like she doesn't even feel it. Now the same thing happens to the right side she is screaming for mommy to make it all better. I am confused my husband tells me i am not a doctor and to let the dr. worry about it. I need advise should i see another doctor to get a 3rd opinion before i even consider the surgery. It seems like there is something maybe wrong with her left side in general not just the leg or neck. PLEASE HELP!!!
As parents we tend to worry, but I think your gut instinct is right on this. If you talk to your doctor and he brushes you off, go see someone else. This is the well being of your child. What happens if you ignore it, and something really is wrong? I would see yopur doctor again, tell him your concerns and ask what your next step should be. If you are not happy with the answer...go somewhere else. Follow your instincts.
You have to do what makes you feel comfortable. Neither of my boys had anything that worried me when they were younger (thank goodness). I wouldn't think that an ankle growing crooked would effect the pain sensation but I don't know. I would look into things more in depth before I opted for surgery. In my opinion...if you don't look out for your kids who will. I wouldn't be able to "not worry about it" if I was in your shoes. No matter how minor something is it is certainly best to investigate all your options.
S.
Avon Unit Leader
Start your own business for only $10, ask me how!
has she had an ultra sound on her spine? the reason i ask is we went to the hospital for an u/s on my daughters sacral dimple (SP) and they found that her t11 and t12 vertebrae were smaller than the rest. and they said we needed to watch her legs to make sure she could still move them and feel stimuli. like if we rubbed her leg see if she jumped and if she didnt, call them asap... so if i were you i would be calling every doc or specialist let me know if you want to talk more about what our doc sad.... i have to feed the baby lol
Mother's instinct is not a myth. If you are still concerned, and if you think there is more going on, then keep pushing until you get someone to take you seriously. Doctors are people just like in every other profession. Some are great, and some are crappy, and most are in between. You never know what is going on in their lives that could be taking their attention away from their work. THey are just people. So if you feel like they are not looking deep enough, keep going back, or find a neurological specialist as well as an orthopaedic specialist in the area that specialize in pediatrics as well. It is you baby and your instincts aren't telling you to push further for nothing. And at worst, they find out everything is fine and you were just paranoid. So, I really think you should do what you feel is right, and if you talk to your husband about it, he should understand. I would rather be a paranoid mom than a careless one!!
A. J
If you are that worried you can politely let your ped know that you would like her to see a specialist. Since it seems to only be on the left side I would aske to see a pediatric neurologist.
Sorry I agree with you, it seems strange that all of this is happening on the left side. It is ALWAYS worth getting checked out. I work in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and speaking with a few nurses here we feel you should have it looked into. Don't bother with another 3rd opinion just ask your current ped to send you to the neurologist. If they won't find someone who will. Good luck.
Sincerely,
K.
I don't know if this will help, but before you even consider surgery, you might want to talk to a couple local Chiropractors... I know that alot of people don't believe in Chiropractic care, but think about this, your central nervous system is in your back and spine, and if something is going wrong it the other parts of the body, then something is wrong in the spine. It's just like a breaker box for your house.... Talk to a chiropractor.... see if he can help before you have to do surgery.
When in doubt, go with your gut instinct. There is nothing wrong with wanting a 3rd opinion. The worst that could happen is that your suspicions are confirmed and then your daughter will get the help she needs. It may truthfully turn out to be a "nothing" problem that she'll grow out of, but I wouldn't want to take the chance either. See if you can get her evaluated by an occupational therapist and see what their conclusion is before you take her to another doctor. Document all your concerns (the fact that the leg "gives out" and that she seems to not feel pain on that side...anything else along those lines" before you head to the appointment.
I agree with all the other mommies. Go with your gut. Seek another opinion if you're not feeling that your daughter is getting the care and attention she needs. Make sure to document EVERYTHING that happens with her. If you have a video camera, take videos and show them to the doc. It may seem a bit extreme, but you want to make sure the docs see exactly what you're seeing at night. Good luck to you!
Hi there...i'm not a Dr. myself, just a fellow mommy, but after reading your situation, i thought that maybe her lack of feeling on the left side is due to her neck injury. Like, perhaps she has a pinched nerve (or several), and cannot feel pain as much as she can on her right side. Also, her knee problems are probably all related to her neck problem. Since she favors the left side, and her body is physically pulled to the left, it creates more stress on that side, and causes more pressure on that knee as she is walking. I myself was born with a paralyzed right arm because my umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and rt. arm, and back in 1972, the Dr. who delivered me was on call and inebriated and did'nt notice it until it was too late. After i was 3 mo. old, the paralization went away, but my rt. arm has permanent nerve damage to this day! My shoulder is smaller and more sloped than my left, and i feel pain GREATER in my right arm...it's more sensitive than the left. I also have limited range of motion, not horrible, but it's not 100%. Back in the 70's, people were'nt as aware of surgical options as they are today. My own Mother says she wishes she would have known what treatment options were available for me back then, and she wishes she would have sued that doctor! Oh, BTW, i also ended up with ankle and foot problems in my early walking years because of that problem! So, i do have some personal knowledge of your daughters situation...it's not the same, but similar to an extent to where i believe nerve damage is causing her to lose sensation on her left side. I'd look into it! Good luck to you and your family!
I say go with your instinct...you know your child. Go to as many docs as you need to until you feel that you are woriking together in the best interest of you daughter!!!! No disrespect to your husband... but I would leave nothing to the docs to worry about. That is your job .... you are the advacate for your kid!!!! Good luck , V. E
When you saw Ped. Assoc. did you mention about it seeming to bother her at night, but lack of pain reaction at other times? I can't even begin to speculate on what might be going on, but I say go with your gut. You're her mother and in the end, it's you, not the doctors, who knows what's right for your child. Trust your intuition, because it sounds to me like it is telling you something is not right with your daughter and you won't be able to relax until you know what that is.
-K.
You said that in the evening it is worse. I wonder if having the latest appointment available at the doctor's office would give him a better idea of how much it is affecting her. It would be relatively easy for him (or her) to tell if her left side has less sensation than the right by doing pin pricks or even gently pinching her. In your shoes I would take my child to him again but if he didn't listen to me I would ask for a referral to someone else. An Occupational evaluation is a good idea but normally you need to have your doctor request the evaluation. If the doctor won't give you a referral or an OT eval request I would go to a different doctor.
We had a scare last year where our son fell and hit his head, the next day he had a bump and I took him to the doctor who looked him over and assured me that he looked great and it was just a bump. The bump got worse over the next week and I spoke to a different doctor on call and took him back to see his doctor and again was assured that he looked wonderful no signs of a brain injury just a superficial bump. We (DH and I) ended up talking to 4 different on call doctors the last one said if I was in your position and felt the concern you feel I would take him to the ER (bear in mind this is over a week after the accident). We took him to an ER 30 min from home because it has a better pediatric unit and they discovered that not only did he have a skull fracture but that he needed surgery to relieve pressure on his brain from the blood that was pooling against it. Even the ER doc was shocked anything was wrong because our son continued to look GREAT no signs of a head injury. So that was a long way to say go with your instincts.
A.,
My daughter did not have this problem, but she did have minor surgery on her eye when she was one so I understand your apprehension. It is a scary thing to have your little one go under. With that said, I would not hesitate for a second to not only get a third opinion, but with a specialist in that field. Think of it this way...you are the only advocate for your child. Not even your doctor will advocate for her. Use your mothers intuition on this and don't second guess yourself. If it is nothing then you will not need to worry any further. However, if it is something, then you can prevent your child from having further complications down the road. She depends on you. Fathers can be wonderful to thier children and no doubt love them as much as you do, but a mother knows her child. There is something very real about the bond between mother and child. Again, use your instincts and you can never be wrong no matter what the outcome is!
I'm no doctor either but the fact that you don't feel like something is right is enough for me to advise that you get a 3rd (or more) opinion pronto. Honestly, there's a pediatrician in town to whom I wouldn't take a barn cat because he just does not diagnose problems until months pass by.
It can't hurt at all. If surgery really is necessary then you can go into it knowing it's needed. If there's some other problem, then you'll have the chance to find treatment for it rather than waiting longer to find out what is going on.
Good luck.
