Hi. I am a 15 year old girl who has had many surgeries including having a fused ankle. Now I know you are wondering, why is a 15 year old on here?!?! But I am here to tell you I know you're pain. When I was born, I was born with congenital short femur and tibia, simply put I was born with one leg shorter than the other. I was also born without having a fibula. When I was born the tip of my big toe on my right leg touched the top of my left knee. Of course my parents wanted to do whatever they could to help me live the life of a normal child. They went to a hospital in Delaware and got the opinion of what they should do. They told my parents to amputate was my only option. They told my parents that I would never be able to walk, run, ride a bike, or even crawl. But fortunately my parents didn't give up. They found another doctor who resides in Maryland. Dr. Dror Paley an orthopedic surgeon who performs many surgeries including limb lenghthening surgeries (the kind that I have had many times. Of course because i don't have a fibula i had to get my ankle fused. This procedre along with the limb lengthening was first done for my first time when I was only 12-14 months old. For the longest time I had to wear a shoe on my right foot with a lift on the bottom. I got stares, surprisingly mostly from adults, when you think, adults were the ones who told us younger ones that it's not nice to stare, well at least my mom did. I know about the physical therapy as well. Thank goodness I have a high pain tolerance. If I didn't I'm not sure how i could deal with all of the surgeries i have had in my lifetime of 15 years.Because I was so young I of course didn't know what the right decision was fo me. But my parents did. Finding shoes is hard. Especially with me being a teenager, all the hot trends out there and being a girl, I see so many shoes that I love. That I wish i could wear but I can't. And because of that shoe shopping for me can become a little depressing and is one of my least favorite things to do. But because also having a fused ankle isn't the only thing that makes it hard for me to find shoes (my right foot is a a bit wide), I'm not sure how much I can help you. But, I'm not going to let that stop me, I didn't let anything else stand in my way. I mainly wear sneakers because looking at the heels is hard for me. I found that New Balance is a good shoe, becuase it's wide enough for my foot but also gives me support because I don't have much of an arch. Hope I helped!!
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Hi. I am a 15 year old girl who has had many surgeries including having a fused ankle. Now I know you are wondering, why is a 15 year old on here?!?! But I am here to tell you I know you're pain. When I was born, I was born with congenital short femur and tibia, simply put I was born with one leg shorter than the other. I was also born without having a fibula. When I was born the tip of my big toe on my right leg touched the top of my left knee. Of course my parents wanted to do whatever they could to help me live the life of a normal child. They went to a hospital in Delaware and got the opinion of what they should do. They told my parents to amputate was my only option. They told my parents that I would never be able to walk, run, ride a bike, or even crawl. But fortunately my parents didn't give up. They found another doctor who resides in Maryland. Dr. Dror Paley an orthopedic surgeon who performs many surgeries including limb lenghthening surgeries (the kind that I have had many times. Of course because i don't have a fibula i had to get my ankle fused. This procedre along with the limb lengthening was first done for my first time when I was only 12-14 months old. For the longest time I had to wear a shoe on my right foot with a lift on the bottom. I got stares, surprisingly mostly from adults, when you think, adults were the ones who told us younger ones that it's not nice to stare, well at least my mom did. I know about the physical therapy as well. Thank goodness I have a high pain tolerance. If I didn't I'm not sure how i could deal with all of the surgeries i have had in my lifetime of 15 years.Because I was so young I of course didn't know what the right decision was fo me. But my parents did. Finding shoes is hard. Especially with me being a teenager, all the hot trends out there and being a girl, I see so many shoes that I love. That I wish i could wear but I can't. And because of that shoe shopping for me can become a little depressing and is one of my least favorite things to do. But because also having a fused ankle isn't the only thing that makes it hard for me to find shoes (my right foot is a a bit wide), I'm not sure how much I can help you. But, I'm not going to let that stop me, I didn't let anything else stand in my way. I mainly wear sneakers because looking at the heels is hard for me. I found that New Balance is a good shoe, becuase it's wide enough for my foot but also gives me support because I don't have much of an arch. Hope I helped!!
August 18, 2008 - 7:35pmThis Comment
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