PFFD: My Dad's Story

Joan — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:26:50 +0000

After reading a recent People Magazine article featuring 2 young girls with PFFD, I finally learned the medical term for my Dad's shortened leg. I am thrilled to see a support forum for people with limb differences. When my Dad was born in 1918, no specialist had ever seen anything like his shortened right leg (his knee was essentially at his hip), and I am fairly certain that he never met another PFFD patient in his life. The doctors told his parents he would never walk, but he did, for 88 years.

My Dad had difficulty finding employment when he graduated from high school during the Depression (no EEOC in those days - most companies wouldn't even let him fill out an application), but eventually found a factory job. When he retired from the same firm, he was no longer a factory worker, but the CFO of what had become a Fortune 50 company. He did occasional consulting work until he was 82.

My Dad played baseball and football and swam when he was young, and was still riding a bike in his fifties, and golfed and bowled beyond that. He did yard work and home maintenance until he moved to a retirement community at 81. He was married, had 4 children and 8 grandchildren, none with any limb differences. None of his siblings, nieces, nephews or other extended family members had PFFD. In his mid-60s he started using a cane, and switched to a walker at 84. After he turned 88, he relied more on a wheelchair, but for health reasons unrelated to his leg. At the time of his death at 88, his shortened leg and associated joints were still functional. His primary arthritis complaint was about his hands, never his legs or hips.

I wish you and your children all the luck and happiness that my father enjoyed.

Joan's blog

PFFD: My Dad's Story