A Full-Circle Moment for Catherine Tallant, Psy.D.

Catherine Tallant, Psy.D., vividly remembers her time as a patient at Shriners Children’s in Florida during her childhood.

From casting to therapy, she can recall a portion of each stop on her health journey.

However, there is one moment that she still laughs about today: a fellow patient repeatedly belting out the song Who Let the Dogs Out while it played on a jukebox in the hospital’s cafeteria.

“It’s little things like that, that make the experience more enjoyable for children,” Tallant said.

As a child, Dr. Tallant was diagnosed with Legg-Calve-Perthes, a condition that occurs when blood supply to the ball part of the hip joint is temporarily interrupted and the bone begins to die, break apart and lose its round shape. The body eventually restores blood supply to the ball, and the ball heals. However, if the ball is no longer round after healing, it can cause pain and stiffness in the joint and require treatment.

Once referred to the Florida hospital for treatment, Dr. Tallant was placed in traction with her leg elevated for nearly a year to give the bone the opportunity to heal and increase blood flow to the joint. After pursuing other treatment options, including using crutches, she had surgery when she was 10.

“It was not fun as a kid,” she recalled.

During her surgery, a metal plate and screws were placed inside her leg to help with growth and allow the ball part of her hip joint to not grind into the socket.