Siena's Road to Recovery

At the age of four, Siena was diagnosed with a rare hip disease (Legg calve perthes) that affected her left hip causing the bone to disintegrate. This process went on from when she was four to eight years old. And then the bone started to regrow from ages eight to twelve. This disease causes lots of pain not only in her hip but only in her leg and knee. It has thrown the right side of her body off and has affected her spine.

This disease affected her childhood greatly. Siena was limited in the normal activities of a child like running, jumping, certain sports, sitting in hard chairs and floors, and even sleeping. She would participate in activities because she didn’t want to miss out, but the pain later would be very hard. Siena started seeing a pediatric orthopedic specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital almost ten years ago and has been monitored with X-rays until her growth plates closed in her hip.

We found out in October it was time to operate. Siena goes into surgery on December 20th to get the head of her femur reshaped, along with repairing muscles and tendons. The doctor also plans at that time to do some small breaks in her pelvis bone, rotate the bones to create space, and put screws in to hold it all together. Siena will have monthly trips to Boston for post-op and looking to face a second surgery in four to six months to remove the screws in her hip. At that time, she will get a plate and screws in her right knee so that her left leg can catch up in growth.

We have a long road ahead. Through this all, Siena has been very brave. She is such a positive and kind soul and we just want her to have a better quality of life. Thank you!