Once the fixator is in position, patients must participate in physical therapy at home twice a day, in addition to visiting a physical therapist in person three times a week.
“Patients are seen by physical therapy for stretching, strengthening exercises and ambulation training. Therapy is very important to maintain range of motion and strength. In terms of an external fixator, walking, swimming and staying active is very important to simulate new bone formation,” said Gordon.
“You really have to do the physical therapy in order to be successful. I wanted the best for Julie. So, I wanted to bring her here to Shriners Children's because the therapists here have dealt with the Taylor frame,” said Mary.
By 2018, Julie was ready for her second and third lengthening surgeries. The second treatment plan included disrupting the growth plate in her right leg as to stop the leg from growing and allow the left leg to catch up.
“The growth plate is a cartilage area in the upper and lower parts of the bone. What we do is drill and scrape the growth plate in order to create enough damage for it to no longer be functional,” explained Gordon.
Then, Gordon placed an Ellipse nail in her left femur. The nail encases a magnet that is attached to a series of rotors. Those rotors turn when the device communicates with an external magnet – causing the bone to lengthen.
“It wasn’t easy. You go into it assuming it’s going to be easier than the Taylor frame because nothing is outside of the body. It was different but it was still really hard,” said Mary.
It wasn’t easy and the team knew she’d need to do the same surgery/course of treatment twice to achieve even legs. Gordon said Julie had true courage to endure a total of three lengthening treatment plans.
“The Ellipse nail technology has definitely changed the game for our limb lengthening patients. There are no pin sites for the patients and families to deal with which makes physical therapy and the lengthening process much easier,” said Gordon.
In addition, treatments that include an Ellipse nail typically require less pain medicines than treatments that include an external fixator.
“I thought I’d never wear high heel shoes but now I have boots that are one inch off the ground! I have multiple pairs of shoes and I can walk around just fine,” Julie said.
