Help please...we need some quick answers. Our daughter has a fracture in the thighbone that needs surgical treatment. The doctor is talking about using a metal plate and screws to hold it in place while she heals. She'll be in a big cast, too. We live in a very isolated, rural area with few family and friends to help out. Isn't there an easier way to treat this problem? I don't know how we can manage.

It's families and situations like yours for which a new system was designed. A new, flexible and curved rod system can be inserted down through the bone to hold it in place while it heals. The rod or nail (as surgeons refer to it) is called the Nancy nail.

Once in place this nailing system placed opposing forces on the bone. Such forces reduce or correct the fracture and stabilize or hold in place the entire bone. Sometimes called elastic stable intramedullary nailing or ESIN, this system has been around for the last 20 years.

Ask your surgeon about this method of treatment. There may be some reason why your child wouldn't qualify but if not, it's an option worth considering.