An Introduction
I thought I would start a blog to keep track of my progress with treatment and as something for me to look back on. Also just in case there is anyone in a similar situation and wants to read up on others experiences.
But first I should probably start from the beginning. It was a warm summers evening in Ancient Greece...
I was born in February 1991 with Bilateral Congenital Talipes Equinovarus, or more commonly known as Clubfoot. My feet were turned inwards and upwards as the muscle on the inside of the foot is really strong and the muscle on the outside is useless.
I had corrective surgery at 3 months, 7 years and 10 years old. The first operation, a posteromedial release, they basically just cut all my muscles and tendons and placed the foot in an aesthetically straight position. They didn't actually correct it as the Talus bone should be covered, but it isn't. This is why I have such an awfully structured foot. With the second operation a bone from the inner foot was removed on both feet to stop my shins turning inwards, which has given me an incredibly high instep. The third was to remove the pins from the second operation as they were incredibly uncomfortable.
Surprisingly, my feet served me fairly well through my teenage years. If I had done too much running or standing then I would have to sit and rest for a while. Then at 17 it went a bit downhill and I started to get pains in my ankles, so my consultant suggested a steroid injection into the ankle joint. The problem with these is that they are unpredictable. The pain relief could last for a few days, a few weeks or a few years, but in my case I couldn't walk for a week. Since then the pains have gotten worse and spread. I have fractured a metatarsal in my right foot just from light walking and I have developed arthritis in both ankles, I am only 22. I knew arthritis was a possibility but I was always told when I was 40 or 50 not bloody 22, so that was a big kick in the balls. And it is just getting worse and worse, it has now gotten to a point where I am using a walking stick. Which in a way is fitting as my name (Savvakis) means old man in Hebrew.
Which brings me to now. At the moment I am waiting to have an ankle Arthroscopy which is where a surgeon will scrape away at the cartilage to smooth it out thus relieving some of the pain. However the likely hood of it getting rid off all (or any) pain is unlikely. And so I had possibly one of the hardest decisions of my life to make...to have a bone fusion or have both feet amputated.
I have decided on an amputation, which may sound extreme at first but, here is why I feel that it is a better option for me.
Any doctor I have spoken to about this operation has said it is no good and that no-one has looked back and said that they were glad that they had it. I nearly had it a couple of times but I had to cancel it both times and I am glad I did as I now know a whole load more on the procedure then I did at the time.
But first I should probably start from the beginning. It was a warm summers evening in Ancient Greece...
I was born in February 1991 with Bilateral Congenital Talipes Equinovarus, or more commonly known as Clubfoot. My feet were turned inwards and upwards as the muscle on the inside of the foot is really strong and the muscle on the outside is useless.
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| These are my daughters feet as she was born with Bilateral Talipes as well, just so that you get an idea of what Talipes looks like. |
I had corrective surgery at 3 months, 7 years and 10 years old. The first operation, a posteromedial release, they basically just cut all my muscles and tendons and placed the foot in an aesthetically straight position. They didn't actually correct it as the Talus bone should be covered, but it isn't. This is why I have such an awfully structured foot. With the second operation a bone from the inner foot was removed on both feet to stop my shins turning inwards, which has given me an incredibly high instep. The third was to remove the pins from the second operation as they were incredibly uncomfortable.
Surprisingly, my feet served me fairly well through my teenage years. If I had done too much running or standing then I would have to sit and rest for a while. Then at 17 it went a bit downhill and I started to get pains in my ankles, so my consultant suggested a steroid injection into the ankle joint. The problem with these is that they are unpredictable. The pain relief could last for a few days, a few weeks or a few years, but in my case I couldn't walk for a week. Since then the pains have gotten worse and spread. I have fractured a metatarsal in my right foot just from light walking and I have developed arthritis in both ankles, I am only 22. I knew arthritis was a possibility but I was always told when I was 40 or 50 not bloody 22, so that was a big kick in the balls. And it is just getting worse and worse, it has now gotten to a point where I am using a walking stick. Which in a way is fitting as my name (Savvakis) means old man in Hebrew.
Which brings me to now. At the moment I am waiting to have an ankle Arthroscopy which is where a surgeon will scrape away at the cartilage to smooth it out thus relieving some of the pain. However the likely hood of it getting rid off all (or any) pain is unlikely. And so I had possibly one of the hardest decisions of my life to make...to have a bone fusion or have both feet amputated.
I have decided on an amputation, which may sound extreme at first but, here is why I feel that it is a better option for me.
The bone fusion, which I have considered and been offered a few times, is a procedure where the joint is fused together using bits of pelvis bone. Which in theory is just dandy, but in reality its not quite so simple. Because the ankle joint becomes stiff which means that I will loose some movement in my foot, which will make walking hard and it means that more stress is put on other joints so they will in turn develop arthritis. So those joints will end up being fused until you end up with a solid foot. While all this is going on the pressure and the new way you walk, due to the solid joints, will start to spread to the knees, hips, spine and neck. It becomes a game of chase the pain. So all that means a life of massive operations. Then there is the recovery process, which in theory takes about year. But that is if it all goes well. It has a 15% rate of failure in someone with a normal structured foot, and mine are far from normal. If it fails my feet would have to be amputated anyway.
Any doctor I have spoken to about this operation has said it is no good and that no-one has looked back and said that they were glad that they had it. I nearly had it a couple of times but I had to cancel it both times and I am glad I did as I now know a whole load more on the procedure then I did at the time.
While doing research into it I found that a lot of people were asking whether to fuse the joint or have them amputated too, and 9 times out of 10 they went for an amputation and had not regretted it. Also I found a lot of people who have had the triple arthodisis, and it went well, then decided to amputate a few months after as the pain relief just wasn't worth the effort.
So after reading up about it the thought of amputating doesn't sound so bad, and believe me I have thought about this for a long time. Me and my wife joked about just chopping my feet off about a year ago and since then the thought of it has sounded more and more plausible. Now finding out that my only other viable option is a fusion, I think I will be saying bye bye to my wonky feet.
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