8 year old daughter had achilles repaired..
Our 8 year old daughter had her achilles repaired in April 2012, this is rare as she is by no means an athelete! she does have rheumatoid arthritis, we had the left bursa, which was inflamed, injected with steroid in March 2011.. after an MRI one year later revealed a high grade tear, we were left with no choice but to allow her surgeon to repair the tendon.. we are at week 11 post op now and she has started WB out of her moon boot.. watching your child go through so much pain makes you feel heart broken at times..
suzy2004 said,
July 1, 2012 @ 8:50 pm
Our 8 year old daughter had her achilles repaired in April 2012, this is rare as she is by no means an athelete! she does have rheumatoid arthritis, we had the left bursa, which was inflamed, injected with steroid in March 2011.. after an MRI one year later revealed a high grade tear, we were left with no choice but to allow her surgeon to repair the tendon.. we are at week 11 post op now and she has started WB out of her moon boot.. watching your child go through so much pain makes you feel heart broken at times..
curlygirl said,
July 2, 2012 @ 11:42 pm
Oh No I am so sorry.
Give her a big hug from me.
XX
lesliekay said,
July 3, 2012 @ 8:40 am
My 7 year old son is very atheletic and he is only able to flex his ankles 5 degrees below neutral with force. To stay active, he will need them lengthened or he is to quit sports completely (which would make him miserable). The doctor said that his tendons are “remarkably” short.
normofthenorth said,
July 3, 2012 @ 1:53 pm
Sounds like your daughter got put through a very slow rehab, Suzy. Hope she loved the boot and such. Things should progress pretty quickly and steadily now.
Lesliekay, I’m confused. Did you mean “he is only able to flex his ankles 5 degrees ABOVE neutral with force”? Inability to flex the ankle below neutral with force, toes down (”plantar-flexed”) suggests an unusually LONG AT, while a short AT would push the toes down like crazy, but he couldn’t flex far toes UP (”dorsiflexion”). My FIL was born with short ATs, and got teased for walking around tiptoe. He got AT-lengthening surgery as a kid, and was fine after they healed. As I understand it, it’s kind of like non-op rehab, but with surgery(!). Meaning, the surgeon cuts the AT, but does not stitch the cut ends together. And the rehab maybe uses less plantarflexion than for the rest of us. The body creates a length of tendon to reattach the two ends.
suzy2004 said,
July 4, 2012 @ 12:37 am
Thanks Curlgirl, will give big hugs!.. Lesliekay, hope your son gets better and he does not
need any tendon lengthening… Our daughter has normal lengthed tendons, thats what
makes her condition all the more confusing for her surgeon.. Hopefully, now that hers is repaired,
she can continue her recovery.. We have an MRI on her right achilles in a couple of weeks,
as she is having similar symptoms at the moment.. Thanks norm, yes, slow rehab, but hoping for
speedy recovery now..
lesliekay said,
July 6, 2012 @ 8:38 am
Thank you for your advise normofthenorth. I was meaning that the doctor takes his foot and tries to get it to the neutral position, but can’t even achieve the 90 degree angle. If my son tries to flex his foot, he can only lift his toes. He wasn’t a toe-walker because he stretched all the ligaments in both feet and thus he is severly flat-footed (we will have to correct that with braces). Your experience is good to know. Thank you.
normofthenorth said,
July 6, 2012 @ 3:13 pm
LK, I get it now. You may be interested in my newest blog page here, about the perils of healing short — recently discovered by me from a podiatrist’s visit.
I think the AT-lengthening surgery is pretty good, and better than the alternative. Worst part is having both legs “gone” at once. The only thing worse than HAVING to use crutches is not being ABLE to!
gntwagner said,
July 8, 2012 @ 6:26 pm
Oh, poor kid! Tell her there’s a lot of us out there rooting for her recovery!
suzy2004 said,
July 10, 2012 @ 8:41 am
thanks gntwagner.. she is feeling better everyday..
sheena said,
July 12, 2012 @ 12:29 pm
Hi,
I have an eight year old and it is awful to see them ill. I have had a lot of illness with my mine…
I really hope she heals well and that her arthritis is kept under control.