Orthopaedics 101

I have the feeling that I am in class, back into college, studying orthopedics. Zoé's feet: her achilles tendon, her calcaneous, her equinus, and her plantar facia. Well, I invite you to google all these terms if you are really interested in foot anatomy. I personally thought I'd leave it to having pedicures in the Vietnamese nail parlors that crowd Piedmont Avenue!!

I never thought I'd be reading medical papers, searching for answers to the many questions that crowd my mind. All this has to do with Zoé's upcoming surgery. As you can see I am quite unnerved by it all.

Nicholas Andry “the Father of Orthopaedics” first used the term in 1741 when he published “Orthopaedia or The Art of Correcting and Preventing Deformities in Children”. The word Orthopaedic is derived from the Greek word “orthos” meaning to straighten and “paidion” signifying children. In early years, the specialty of Orthopaedics focused primarily on the correction of childhood musculoskeletal deformities such as polio, rickets, and scoliosis. This spelling is also used to distinguish it from other specialties such as pediatrics and podiatry, since in Latin “pedis” means foot and in Greek “pod” represents the foot.

Today, the specialty of Orthopaedics is the branch of medicine that deals exclusively with the diagnosis and treatment of injuries and disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

OK, enough science for one post, all I want to say is that I am at a loss. It's so difficult to have many opinions, especially when they differ. We know that Zoé needs surgery on her foot, we've tried the non-invasive options: Kinésio taping, serial casting, stretching, but to no avail, surgery is needed. We saw some doctors at Stanford, Oakland Children's Hospital, Shriner's, and we were told that she needed her Achilles tendon to be nipped in 3 spots. We were also told by one doctor that he had to cut the plantar facia, in other words do a plantar release so that by eliminating her over extended high arch (cavus deformity), he would have something flat to be able to push onto to get the full range of stretch required to cast Zoé and ultimately fit her into a new pair of beautiful AFO's (Ankle Foot Orthotics). I am at a loss, because another Doctor told us he would never do a plantar release for 3 reasons: a) Zoé is much too young, b) Plantar release should be used as the last resort when nothing has worked before that and c) it is apparently VERY painful....so now I am confused, worried, stressed out!

I feel that my head is spinning out of control and that my legs are on a treadmill with no stop button.

Tomorrow, we are going up to Shriner's for the pre-op appointment. We are also going to meet an amazing doctor who deals with feet and muscles and did a great job on our friend Kayla (Cureforkayla.com). I will , of course, ask him what he thinks of the plantar release, and whether it is known to be unbearable (On a scale of 1 to 10, where he puts it).

As you can see from the pictures on this post, we've had an array of "shoes" for Zoé from, purple without hinges, to pink with hinges (She's 6 months old then) to blue fiberglass and plaster...I will have to post all the different types of AFO's we still have in the house, you'll be amazed. I think Payless Shoes will be pale in comparison. And you can see how we've come a long way...since that first pair of pink booties...

On another note, Zoé had 4 appointments last Tuesday. We started with her ophthalmologist, she's gained a bit in terms of being less far-sighted, but she's still going to need glasses, anyway, she's soooooo cute in her red glasses, that we don't care.

Her ears are fine, after passing the audio test with flying colors.

Kids appointments are so fun, and providers really know how to make them creative for kids to sit there, cooperating whether watching a video, or placing pegs on a board. Zoé loves her sticker rewards! and she knows that we'll then go get a frozen yogurt together, for I think I deserve my reward too.

Voila for now. We go to Shriner's tomorrow, then cardiologist for me on Monday, for Zoé early June and a busy couple of weeks ahead before the surgery as we go back to Stanford for a reevaluation of Zoé's cavus feet, and after the surgery...if we ever manage to make up our mind...and that is another story.

We'll let you know how things go up North! (Sacramento)

Till then enjoy what is left of the week:-)