Doctor Appt.

We saw Dr. Scott in Nov. I think we were nervous to see him because we were afraid of what he would tell us we needed to do next and we are a little burned out at the moment.

He saw 4 things:

• knee doesn't completely straighten
• leg length discrepancy of 2 cm.
• the pain she sometimes has on the side of her left foot is because she walks on the side of her foot
• she "toes down" because the lack of flexion in her ankle

He took a new x-ray and compared it to the last x-ray in July and verified the left leg is getting straighter with the 8 plate in the left knee. ETA for removal is summer or maybe later depending on her growth.

The lack of flexion in her ankle is new and he may want to put an 8 plate in her ankle when he removes the one from her knee to help the ankle.

The procedures don't require a lot of recovery. She can walk but may need a boot if it helps the soreness. 

He doesn't want to see us until May when we will schedule a date to remove the 8 plate from her knee but he doesn't want us to schedule our summer around it. We will squeeze it in between trips/camp.

We may also still do something for the additional leg length discrepancy at some point too.

Go back to PT for tune-ups as needed for example if walking gets stiff.

8-plate 3 1/2 months post surgery

We saw Dr. Scott a week ago, 3 1/2 months after her 8 plate surgery.

1st she had a standing x-ray

They had her stand on a 2 cm block because they wanted to check her hips/knees

The Physicians Asst. (who we had never met but she knew Mary's case) said her hips look good.

8 plate in left knee

After examining Mary, Dr. Scott said there are 3 things going on: 

• ankle range of motion, 
• knee isn't completely straight yet, and 
• knocked knee 

along with the additional leg length discrepancy but he doesn't want to do anything right now. 

The PT will hopefully help the ankle range of motion and getting the knee straight. 

The 8 plate is in to mitigate the knock knee and possibly gain some length.

He did mention doing an in depth gait study soon to find out exactly what is creating the issues. 

I have a video of her running but I am having trouble uploading it.

Mary also toes in so he suggested some PT for that and the Physical Therapist recommend we try wrapping a certain bandage around her leg to make her mindful to try to point her toe straight. We have ordered it but haven't tried it yet. 

We will go back in 4 months.

Walking Smoother

I think Mary is walking smoother now. 

• It has been 3 months since her 8 plate and foot surgery. 
• It has been 4 weeks since she got the walking boot off.

Limping A Lot

It's been 2 weeks since Mary got the walking boot off. She is still limping quite a bit. 

She has been to PT once and we have been doing the exercises at home. She has 15 more PT visits to use they were just busy initially so it was hard to get in to see them.

She has been active, walking the dog, riding her bike, etc. and her foot and knee hurt her at night. At night she has been soaking in Epson Salts, takes Tylenol and uses Biofreeze to help her sleep.

I just looked back and it looks like it took 6 weeks after the fixator/cast was off to start walking smoothly. Good to know...

Free once again- no walking boot!

Yesterday we saw Dr. Scott and Mary no longer has to wear the walking boot and is clear for all activities!

At this point he really wants her to start using her leg and doing PT so we can see where she is at. He is hoping she gets the last 10-15 degrees of range of motion in her knee back from PT.

We asked about why Mary's knee "locks up" once she has been sitting. When she stands up she has to push down on her thigh so she can begin to walk. He thinks it is re-aligning her bones. 

Mary wanted to know when the 8 plate will be removed and he is guessing a year from now.

I asked about the 2 marks on the front of her shin (one was discovered after the last cast was removed and the other one showed up later - it might be a scratch) he is guessing they are from poor blood flow in that area.

Good news is he doesn't want to see us for 2 months unless something comes up.

before surgery April 2014

2 months after surgery June 2014- I can't tell from the x-ray that the foot is straighter but it does look straighter in real life

Picture in the parking lot- this is as straight as she can get her leg at the moment. 

She was off riding her bike that afternoon

We haven't been pushing her to do a ton of PT while she had the casts and walking boot but now she will have to focus on it again to help her regain a good gait.

No gain in shoe size

We went shoe shopping today to be ready in case she gets the walking boot on Tuesday. Mary's foot is straighter which was the purpose of the surgery but we didn't gain any length. Mary and I were hoping she would. We both handled it better than I thought we would. Her feet are still 4 sizes different...

Watch What You Ask For

Two weeks ago, Dr. Scott said Mary would get a true walking boot at her next appt. Mary REALLY wanted one so she could take a shower, not have to sleep with something on her leg, etc. so she was nervous he would change his mind and wouldn't give her one after all.

At her appt. today, they cut off her cast and we found a sore at an old pin site. It wasn't there 2 weeks ago:

Old pin site

They took x-rays of her foot:

close up of bone wedge- the darker part. The top has healed more than the lower part.

Then we talked to Dr. Scott. 

• He wasn't too concerned about the sore at the old pin site. 
• He said she would get a walking boot!!! 
• He said she could swim but that means getting in the pool not really playing around. 
• He said no bike which she had been curious about but that going for a walk was ok. 
• He also said she could wear a regular shoe around the house but we have decided to be cautious and stick to the walking boot just in case. 
• We go back in two more weeks.

Then off to get the walking boot we went. They pulled out the exact same one a girl we know who is Mary's age has but it was too big so she ended up with a Pediatric walking boot. It's not too obvious BUT it does have a giraffe on the side. Mary was thrilled to have a real boot initially because she wanted it so bad but both of us were disappointed by the Pediatric boot. It does look "babyish" with the giraffe on it which bugs Mary. I offered to duct tape it or something but she isn't interested.  To me it symbolized the whole problem we were trying to fix this time around...her left foot is not an average size for an 11 year old. We think she has it for only two weeks and I know we will both survive but we were both disappointed.

Giraffe on the side

She did thoroughly enjoy taking a real shower tonight so like all things there are pros and cons...

8 plate incision- week 6

bone wedge incision finally out of a cast- week 6

And I reminded myself I the real goal was to make her foot straighter which would be nice. Gaining size is an added benefit. (Although Mary and I really want her little foot to get to a women's size 5/kids size 3...I don't know if that's realistic or not since before surgery it was a kids size 13...)

Pin Removal and Walking Cast

We saw Dr. Scott on Tuesday (4 weeks after surgery) and:

• they cut off Mary's cast

1st cast - from surgery

unveiling of the pin

• took x-rays of the 8 plate in her knee and the pin and plate in her foot

8 plate

pin and plate

• pulled the pin from her foot (Mary was dreading this part but she did great. She said it was fine and it just hurt a little bit afterwards.)

the pin

• she can now bear weight so they gave her a walking cast and

Dr. Scott held her foot to get it in as much of a 90 degree angle as possible

Yes, she chose the exact same color combo. It was the "cast guys" 1st time doing 1/2 stripes but I think she has started a trend

The little cast show so she doesn't slip

She can walk without crutches once she she can do it

• she was so happy to be able to walk and get her independence back!!!

By the time I got home from work she was outside without crutches practicing volleyball!

• We go back in 2 weeks and she will get a walking boot after all! She will be so happy to be able to go swimming!!!

Post-Op Appt.

Exactly 2 weeks after surgery (Mon. April 28) Mary had her post-op appt. with Dr. Scott. Luckily, it was one of those appointments where everything we were expecting and hoping for happened. 

She had x-rays taken and Dr. Scott was very pleased with the progress. As a result, they cut her cast down below her knee. This allows her more mobility and independence so she returned to school on Tuesday.

It doesn't seem that she lost too much range of motion in her knee but she starts Physical Therapy again on Friday.

8 plate in knee to help straighten her leg and stop knock knee

Side view of 8 plate in knee

Bandage over 8 plate incision site

 8 plate Incision site, 2 weeks after surgery

Cutting cast below knee

Ton of stuffing under the cast

Side view of pin in foot to straighten her foot (it will be removed in 2 weeks) and the plate that is going to help make the bones level

Top view of pin and plate in foot