Hi everyone. I am new to this site and so glad I found it. Though I have known about other cases of PFFD through Doctors and Columbia, it is different when you finally get to connect with those that have the same experiences. I am 35 years old with Bilateral PFFD. I have full functioning of both legs. I wear prosthesis for height adjustment and walk with a crutch for support. At birth my mother was told I would not walk, but I beat that battle at age 2. Life for me has been a struggle, because of encountering ignorance to my physical limitations and facing different levels of discrimination, because people look at me walking and don't understand why I walk straight legged. Then others automatically assume I am an amputee, then when I tell them I am not, they can not understand how I fit my real feet into the prosthesis. But of course I have over come those. I have a B.S. in Community Health and accomplished that with 2 children...girl and boy who are perfectly fine. Seeing them do the things that I was never able to do physically is extremely rewarding and a blessing. My initial complaints now with the PFFD is me getting older and the prosthesis are starting to weigh me down. I have considered commuting without them, but for one I am scared due to my short stature and two, it seems as though I can not walking for very long with my real legs before the muscles become tight and begin to hurt. I was told 4 years ago that I would not be a candidate for lengthening due to my age.
So I would like to know...am I really too old for the procedure, are there new prosthesis that can be used or should I consider a wheelchair?