Why am I doing respite care for two children when I already have nine children at home? I'm a sucker for a sob story. You see the foster parent that called asking for respite care has a seven year old daughter with bone cancer. She is on her way to Chicago, about a three hour drive from here, so her daughter can have a leg saving surgery. She said the doctors here in Michigan just wanted to amputate her daughter's leg to cure the problem, an alternative she wasn't willing to accept. She said she had called every family on the respite list and nobody was willing to provide respite for a fourteen year old and a six year old. I've parented eleven special needs children for a week before, but believe me that is a long enough time for that many.

Growable" rod saves little legs from bone cancer
By the Associated Press
(6/30/03 - WASHINGTON) — ...The first bone-replacing implant that doesn't require more surgery to lengthen as a child's other leg grows...
The implant, called Repiphysis, marks a huge advance for children with bone cancer, says Dr. Steven
Gitelis, the orthopedic oncologist who operated on Domonique.

He goes on to say that as the child grows, doctors can beam painless electromagnetic rays toward the rod that make it slowly expand which is better than repeatedly cutting
into the leg which is required with other limb-lengthening devices.
The article goes on to say how rare bone cancer is with only 1,900 cases in the United States each year but it is most common in children and young adults and approximately 70% are cured by surgery, amputation and chemotherapy.

The reason the rod was only used in adults was because children were still growing and removing the tumor also removed the thigh's growth plate, leaving what was left of the leg markedly shorter than the healthy one.

Repiphysis was invented in France in the late 1990's.

It's not for everyone. Standard limb-lengtheners do work well, particularly for teens, and patients will
need an adult-sized replacement when they finish growing. But Wright says 25 of the nation's 100
orthopedic oncologists have begun offering Repiphysis to their youngest patients.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Photo Credit



Want to read more about foster care or foster care adoption?