General Chat

I know how I feel about this but would like to be shown other perspectives please.

The other night there was a programme about doctors where they come down your street and you can have a consultation.

Anyway, there was a woman on the programme who had a very painful syndrome that caused her joints to dislocate and some digestive problems too, I think.

She stated that she had been counselled by the medical profession to not have children because there was a very high probability that they,too, might be born with the same problem.

However, as she put it "I really wanted to be a mum", so se gave birth to a little boy who, of course, has the same syndrome. Later in the conversation she mentioned that she has to be up in the night to help him cope with his pain.

What do you think about this?

If it were a 50/50 chance that the child would have the condition, we might have taken the risk. Higher odds & we probably wouldn't. It wasn't as if the pain was an unknown quantity. She'd experienced it herself. Why put a child through the same?

Oh horrid situation but at the end of the day it would be hard to have a child you knew would always suffer.....that said do any of us ever really know what our children might go through in their lives....

No easy answer.

Choosing to treat others with compassion & kindness is what distinguishes humans from animals, as does our ability to offer protection of some sort to those who suffer or are in need.

Humanity at its finest.

With today's knowledge if I'd have been her I would think about having IVF using someone else's egg so that the genetic problem isn't passed on but would have a baby and gone through a pregnancy.

I couldn't put a child through so much pain for it's lifetime.

How so, Dermot?

Not sure about the digestive problems but as far as joint dislocation, was she not just hypermobile, Sharron?

If so, I know that hypermobility is not a problem.

I know a young woman with hypermobility and at one stage had difficulty walking and was in a lot of pain, had an operation and months of physio on her left leg. She's now preparing for same op on right leg.

Like most medical problems some are a mild version whilst others have a severe version.

It did have a name but I was not really paying attention when it was mentioned and she said that the little boy was beginning to experience the digestive problems.

The woman was dislocating five times a month and that she was having to help the little boy with his pain in the night.

The programme was only on because neither of us had found anything else to turn to and I was not paying much attention because I find anything medical exceedingly dull.

Sharron my answer is simple No.

Would not have a child.

I speak from the experience of living with hypermobile people.

Two very close members in my family are hypermobile, one danced and played sports at a high level, representing England in home internationals.

This one was in traction three times - was in pain but the two hospitals did not know what was wrong.

We got lucky. The fourth time, the local university sports physiotherapist was in the surgery. She climbed up on the table and - click, the hip was back in place. The physio showed her how to pop it back in herself and she never needed help again.

Another close family member, a trained dancer and choreographer was envious when she heard about the hypermobility, saying she wished she was hypermobile because dancers who are, can get their bodies into a huge number of positions.

Remember Mel Gibson's shoulder popping in Lethal Weapon?

Sharron, a hip joint was what I was writing about - so not a small joint by any means but she can get her fingers and elbows into some weird and wonderful positions so the whole body is affected - as severe as it can get. It is painful when something pops out but once learned, the learned technique of popping things back becomes second nature whereupon the pain dissipates.

The other one in my family can do the same with fingers and elbows but has not needed any treatment as her lifestyle has not been so active.

Had the people in the programme pursued it further - eg other syndromes that may include digestive problems because they are not part and parcel of being hypermobile.

Over the years I have known of two children born with hip and leg joint problems - not hypermobility; a more severe problem that required surgery. They were in plaster for a couple of years to fix their joint problem - one whose diagnosis took a couple of years, the other by the age of two. Nothing was mentioned by their mothers about internal systems so I am not aware of a connection between skeletal frames and internal organs - but I am not an osteopath/surgeon.

(Edit: I've been told that the hip problem I referred to in two babies - above - is Developmental Dysplasia. It is usually diagnosed shortly after birth but can be missed, resulting in pain when moving and, subsequently, operations. Pat, sounds like it could be the scenario in the child you mentioned . Hypermobility a symptom of DD?)

I have loose ribs and a muscle can pop through easily. It makes breathing deeply almost impossible when it happens. When I went to the doctor I thought I was in deep trouble but, no. He said I would have to put up with the pain until the bruising on the muscle had gone down enough for it to pop back into its place. Luckily, I now have the knowledge to hold the muscle in place through my rib cage to prevent it popping out and it's several years since it has happened.

I blame my Mum who was very loose jointed. ;-) :-D <3

Honestly, I really don't know enough to enter into conversation about the condition, only what I heard the woman say.

I never saw the programme, Sharron, but it's such a shame for the boy if his problems can't 'be fixed' as it sounds as though he is in permanent pain.

Sadly, she was warned that that was likely to happen if she had a child.