From http://www.ptialaska.net/~sturm/Erin.html
By Tari Kelahan
Erin was born in 1988 and lives in Fairbanks, Alaska. She has OI Type IV. She is
41 inches tall and weighs 41 pounds. She has had about 25 fractures, most of
which were to her femurs. In fact, two of the femur fractures occurred before
she was born.
Erin's dad, Tim, also has OI Type IV, but it's not as severe as Erin's. (In fact
he's a fire fighter!) Erin's six-year-old sister, Heather, is not affected.
When Erin was four years old, we took her to Shriners Hospital in Portland for
rodding surgery. She had rods placed in both femurs and hasn't had a femur
fracture since. We were really apprehensive about the surgery, but now realize
we would have done it sooner had we known how successful it would be.
Erin has scoliosis, which she wears a brace for. It does seem to be keeping the
curve from progressing as quickly. It took some getting used to, because it was
uncomfortable, but she's adapted quite well to it.
She also wears braces on her lower legs because they are bowing. The braces
cover both front and back of her legs and the bottom of her feet. They have
given her feet tremendous support, and she does not tire nearly as easily as
before.
Erin is in second grade and attends a regular classroom. She walks everywhere
and participates in P.E. She is active in local theater and played Tiny Tim in
last year's "A Christmas Carol." She is now rehearsing for "Wind in the
Willows."
Erin has a great attitude--she's very positive and outgoing. She's a real
"people person" and loves to spend time with her friends. She does really well
in school, loves to read, and is now learning how to play the guitar.