Patients

Patient Testimonial

Domonique, REPIPHYSIS® Expandable Limb Salvage Implant Recipient

Thanks to the perseverance of a mother who was determined to find a way for her daughter to keep her leg, five-year-old Domonique, has a bright and hopeful future ahead of her. A few years ago, this was hardly the case. An x-ray revealed a malignant tumor, known as osteosarcoma, in the young girl's left leg. Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer in children and frequently occurs in the femur, tibia or humerus. Doctors explained a course of chemotherapy could cure Domonique's cancer, but if not, they would likely need to amputate her leg. After the last chemotherapy treatment, doctors found the tumor had already started to grow back. The prognosis looked bleak for Domonique to keep her leg.

"How do you tell your little girl she may never ride her bike again?" asked Leitia, Domonique's mother. The weekend before her daughter's amputation was scheduled, Leitia spent hours desperately surfing the Internet to find another option. She came across a different treatment option, the REPIPHYSIS® Expandable Implant, the first bone replacement that does not require additional surgeries to lengthen the implant as the child's healthy limb grows. Instead, when the healthy limb grows, a 20 second noninvasive procedure is performed to lengthen the prosthetic. The doctor places a magnetic field outside the patient's body to initiate the lengthening process and the field softens the plastic inside the REPIPHYSIS® implant, allowing the spring inside the device to expand.

Leitia immediately told her daughter's physicians about the REPIPHYSIS® device. However, they were skeptical and preferred to move ahead with the amputation. Leitia would not accept their opinion and instead sought the advice of Stephen Gitelis, MD, an orthopedic oncologist at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, IL. Dr. Gitelis told Leitia he could not promise that the REPIPHYSIS® implant would work for her daughter, but said he was hopeful and willing to try the procedure. The next Monday morning Leitia brought Domonique to Chicago where they decided to move forward with surgery using the REPIPHYSIS® Expandable Implant.

Now, almost two years later, Domonique is thriving and functioning as a normal five-year old. She is in kindergarten, enjoys bouncing on the trampoline, riding her bike, and keeping her parents busy making play-dates with friends in her class. Over the summer, Domonique had her first non-surgical lengthening procedure which was successful in "growing" her leg to match the length of the healthy one.

"It is scary to think what would have happened if we hadn't found out about the amazing REPIPHYSIS® Expandable Implant," says Leitia. "We are so blessed to have found this option for our daughter. By sharing our story, we hope to help people realize that if you try hard enough, sometimes miracles are possible."