Lydia has graduated from wheelchair to walker to crutches in only two weeks!

This is the easiest lengthening yet!

Reunited

Chrissie and I felt we all needed to be together so Eliza and I flew to Florida for a 2-week visit. Feeling very happy and content. 

Surgery Day

Lydia and Mum before surgery

Sleepy Lydia after surgery. Everything went very well and as planned!!!

Leg Lengthening #3

Well, ready or not, it's time for Lydia's third leg lengthening procedure, so here we are off to West Palm Beach! Chrissie got a bad stomach bug at the last minute so she stayed home and will come in a few days when she's feeling better. We're staying at Quantum House again (yeaaah!)

 Lydia currently has a 6cm lift and that's about as high as she can handle without being too unsteady. As it is, she has a hard time on uneven ground like grass and sometimes trips.

Making friends already in the Quantum House. QH is a residence on the hospital grounds where families of children undergoing treatment can stay. We could not do this without them!!

Breakfast selfie!

Homeschool on Day 1. Dad is pretending to be tough...

Easter Egg hunt with the other kids at Quantum House

Here's a poorly-taken pic of Lydia's leg x-ray

The plan is to lengthen the tibia using the "PRECISE" internal fixator. This is great news because the lengthening rod is inside the bone, so no pins, no pain, no infections, no heavy and bulky contraption hanging onto her leg, more mobility!  (The picture above is an example showing how it fits inside the bone, not Lydia's actual leg). We are very excited as this is the first time we'll have had this type.

Born "Different" (Lydia)

My name is Lydia Schroeder. I am now sixteen years old. I believe I was twelve when I started this blog and haven’t been back to it for years so let me catch you up. I have a twin sister named Eliza and two older brothers. When I was born, I had a lot of problems with my left leg. Fibular Hemimelia. For those of you who don’t know, “Fibular Hemimelia is a birth defect where part or all of the fibular bone is missing, as well as associated limb length discrepancy, foot deformities, and knee deformities. Fibular hemimelia (FH) is a very rare disorder, occurring in only 1 in 40,000 births.” that’s the definition, however, no FH patient is the same. In my specific case, I was born with no fibular at all, only four toes, a deformed knee, hip, and ancle, leg length discrepancies, a very slowly growing leg, and a twisted foot. All of this occured in my left leg. My identical twin, Eliza, doesn’t have any leg issues. This is my story. I was born in England with my identical twin sister, Eliza. My parents decided to move to California for various reasons, including my medical issues. I’ve got to hand it to them… my parents looked far and wide for answers concerning my condition, what to do about it, and how it would affect my life. All of the surgeons and doctors they saw took one look at my leg.- and its’ very extensive list of issues – and said that the best and only choice was to amputate my foot somewhere below the knee. (Keeping in mind that this would only solve some of the issues, I would still need surgeries on my hip, knee, and femur) Finally, my parents discovered Dr. Dror Paley; a rising orthopedic surgeon that changed the face of limb lengthening and an expert on FH. He told us that there was another way and that amputation wasn’t the way to go. My first surgery (I believe) was when I was three years old in 2007. It was a super ankle and an eight-plate installation. It was a year later when I had my first lengthening, but I can explain that in more detail later. (see my Fibular Hemimelia page) January 19, 2017