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Anne
C
Being a mother
Ks ,
USA
My daughter was 9 years old when my mother had come for a visit and noticed that one leg was shorter than the other. I felt guilty that I hadn't seen it myself. I love my daughter, so how could I miss something like that? That's the question I had asked myself over and over. I thought, that sometimes when you go for a walk small children will complain that they are tired of walking. Little did I know, until my mom had pointed it out. So I took my daughter to the doctor's office to find she had narrowing of the arteries all the way down one leg. That's why she was always tired of walking. No one wanted to help because she was nine and they had never seen this in a child before. We had seen doctor after doctor and finally I was told surgery or amputation. I cried for days not knowing how i was going to tell a nine year old she had to have a dangerous surgery. I would give my own legs for my daughter to be all right. After days of contemplating, we chose surgery. She had an artery replacement at the age of nine, a stent, and a balloon at ten. It changed our lives but we are stronger for it. Watching your Ted talk had me picturing what those other parents had gone through. With medical technology my daughter still has her leg, gets a check-up every year, and she is attending college. It's scary being a mother, but I love my daughter and wouldn't have missed it for the world!