My daughter, Olivia (she turns 4 in June), has her first lengthening surgery scheduled for May 9th. Her surgery will be performed by Dr. Davidson at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). A year ago, during a check-up with Dr. Davidson, we were told that a pin left in her hip/upper femur (from her super hip surgery) needed to be removed prior to lengthening. He said it could be done during the same surgery when her external fixator is installed, but if the hole left behind after the pin was removed was too big and made her femur too weak, then her lengthening would be delayed by about a year. We opted to have it removed during a separate out-patient surgery ahead of time. Dr. Davidson said we made the right choice. The hole that remained in her femur was about 0.25 inches in diameter. She came home with only a bandage the same day of surgery. She wasn’t supposed to do any weight bearing on that leg for about 6 weeks. She wasn’t allowed to wear her prosthesis and she had to use a walker. Trying to explain to a 3 year old that she can’t walk on her leg for several weeks was not fun. But since it was for her betterment we stuck it out. Her leg is now completely healed and ready for lengthening.
At her last check-up, Dr. Davidson noticed that the large bone (she’s missing the small bone) in her calf isn’t growing correctly. It’s starting to bend out at the top near her knee. In six months time, it bent about 15 degrees. It’s not supposed to do this. He will fix it during upcoming lengthenings, but he said it might be a problem until her leg stops growing at maturity.
We have a long road ahead of us, but through prayer and support from family and friends we’ll make it through.
Beth
Comments
I hope everything went well.
I hope everything went well. We met with Dr. Davidson a few months ago and he seems really great. Happy early birthday Olivia! We are still deciding on a treatment for our daughter, if you don't mind me asking what was the length difference?
all will be ok
my own son is just over his first lengthening and it was tough but worth it , he turns 5 next month. there is a boy of 5 at our clinic with the same condition as your little girl . he had his first lengthening last october and it was a great success . as we all attend the one clinic in dublin its easy to keep track of patients . he is due to go for a second surgery this winter coming . hope all will be ok , kids are much tougher than we give them credit for
congrats on first leg lenghtening
I have a daughter who is nearly 2 and we are going to meet Dr Paley next week about lenghtening. We are from Ireland and are just wondering what clinic you attend to in Dublin? We attend Crumlin in Dublin also. Thanks Louise.
hi
we also attend crumlin. mr moore and his team are wonderful , we have been attending clinic for past 3 years and only made up our minds about lengthening before christmas . the whole team helped us a lot through the process, on the side we attended a herbalist pre op .it really helped our sons range of movement . a small note ,if you opt for surgery you should push your local health centre to organise hydro therapy as it speeds up recovery no end . all the best for your trip