Testimony of Healing March 26, 1921 Issue

Five years ago last November my little daughter began...

Louis Fineo

Five years ago last November my little daughter began to show signs of difficulty in walking, and after due consideration I decided to take her to a specialist and have him diagnose the case. Two X-ray examinations were made, and the difficulty was pronounced to be hip disease. He advised putting her in a plaster cast, this being the only remedy known to him for such a disease; however, before doing so he decided to hold a consultation with other physicians, during which one of the attending physicians suggested an operation, to which the specialist replied, "It would be of no avail." So it was finally decided to resort to the plaster cast, which was in due time applied to the child's right side from the waist down to the feet. Suffering intensely from the pressure of the cast she cried and pleaded to be freed from her torture. This continued for forty days. The specialist then called me to his office and, after consulting with his associate, decided to perform the operation, which, he said, would save time, trouble, and money, and the child would be healed within a year or eighteen months. I was surprised, to say the least, at his change of view in regard to the operation which he had before pronounced useless, but with the hope that the child would be able to walk within the specified period of time I gave my consent and she was taken to the hospital. Later I was told that she had been operated upon twice within one week. How true this is I do not know, but I do know that in two weeks' time she was so emaciated I had her taken home.

From this time on the suffering became worse. The plaster cast was so tight that it caused other difficulties, which kept the child in a continuous state of suffering and prevented her from getting much rest or sleep. We submitted to this treatment for over a year and a half, then seeing that the child was getting worse instead of showing some signs of improvement, I became discouraged. I then began to argue with the specialist and questioned his motive as to the performance of the operation. My means having become exhausted, I was not so punctual in paying my bills as formerly and was finally told that if I thought some one else could do more for the child, it would be better for me to take her to him.

Not having any means at my disposal to secure the help of another specialist, I took her to a hospital conducted by a state institution. There the same kind of treatments were continued and more experiments were indulged in. To prevent the disease from reaching the other limb it was also placed in a cast similar to the first one, with a brace between the knees which was long enough to spread the feet about fifteen inches apart. Two and a half years were passed in this way, making a total of four years and four months in plaster casts. With no signs of improvement in sight, I was told by the doctors that she would never be able to walk again, and that as a last resort it would be necessary to put her in bed for a period of from forty to fifty days and attach weights to her feet, in a final effort to force the lower part of her body into a normal position; but I would not give my consent.

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