"She's walking really well!"

We had a doctors appointment today. It's been 6 weeks, the longest we have gone between visits since Pre-Op in May.

Dr. Scott examined Mary and asked how her leg feels. She admitted that at the end of some days she is sore (knee, or ankle, etc.) but not at the end of every day. Mary had been complaining about her foot but a small shoe seems to have been the culprit. He said her knee is wobbly and her ankle is stiff. Her knee will probably improve but her ankle is probably the way it will be. He said nothing is bad and he is happy with how everything is looking. 

Dr. Scott did confirm Mary does have all of her bones but not her ACL and other ligaments which means her range of motion in her knee and ankle will be different than if she didn't have FH.

He said in a "year or so" we may consider stopping the growth on her "regular" leg to make up the final leg length difference. At that time he could work on her scars and straighten her foot if need be.

He said her foot can straighten but when she is tired she will point it in. 


He is clearing her to do more activity because the more she does the faster she will recover. Her muscles are week but she won't hurt anything. He did state that with longer lengthenings it can take a full year after everything is off to recover.

The Physical Therapist that works with Dr. Scott will reach out to Mary's actual Physical Therapist to advise to start working on ankle flexion to see if that will help her gate.

Mary no longer has to wear the splint at night but he suggests an ankle brace for support during basketball so her ankle doesn't turn in when it gets tired.

Our next visit is two months away...further and further spaced out!

But the best part of the appointment was when we were walking out and the parking attendant who has seen Mary over the past 8 months but isn't the most outgoing person called out to us that Mary is walking very well. When I was actually in my car paying to leave I thanked her for the comment. She said she remembers when she used a walker and told me "she is one tough girl"! It was a very nice comment from a "stranger" who we didn't even realize was cheering us from the sidelines.

Fixator Back Together

Mary was given all of the pieces of her fixator as they slowly came off and on Friday she put it all back together again. 

We initially thought it weighed 10 pounds and even when I lifted it up on Friday I was sure it weighed at least 7 pounds but the official bathroom scale weighed it in at 5 pounds. We didn't get to keep any of the pins or wires that went into her body.

She plans to make a lamp out of it for her bedroom.

re-assembled fixator

Trying it on for kicks

No more crutches!!!

This past weekend was cause for celebration for two reasons:

1) We had our first vacation in a year. We went away for the holiday weekend and had a great time. 

2) While we were away even though we did take Mary's crutches with us she didn't use them the whole time we were gone! Even though we were trekking around a lot doing tourist things she was able to go without them. Yes, she was tired and sore at times BUT her walking has become much more smooth vs limping. 

So when she returned to school on Tuesday she was crutch free!

She had been using only one crutch for the past month.

Her Physical Therapist has approved the crutch free move and has approved her to do some more activities but still no running allowed. 

Getting Stronger

At the beginning of January with the support of a friend who has been through 2 lengthenings Mary set her crutches aside at home and started powering through walking. It wasn't comfortable at first but she has gotten so much stronger over the past couple of weeks. She still uses one crutch at school but now she is trying to go without a crutch more and more in public. Her physical therapists have to keep making her exercises harder and harder. I have noticed how much more flexible her hamstring is. 

When she tells me something is uncomfortable after walking a lot it's always her ankle and heel more than her leg.

Lots of progress but still not officially done...yet!

"Athlete" of the Month

Mary goes to the Sports Medicine Center for Young Athletes at the hospital for her Physical Therapy and they selected Mary as the "athlete" of the month for January.

She has been going there since May and they expect 12 more weeks. They have released her to do basketball drills but no scrimmaging or games yet.

Mary loves her two physical therapists and will be very sad when she no longer sees them- not sure she will miss the actually PT though...