Abby’s Care Journey: Answers, Solutions and Smiles

Abby was referred to Shriners Children’s by a pediatrician in her hometown of Crescent City, who couldn’t figure out why she kept breaking her feet. They knew she needed specialized orthopedic care.

The moment she entered Shriners Children’s Northern California, Abby felt a sense of comfort that she had never experienced in a hospital environment.

“For 15 years, I had no idea what was wrong with me,” said Abby. “From a young age, I knew something was wrong in my legs and no one could figure it out until I came to Shriners Children’s.”

Jon R. Davids, M.D., assistant chief of orthopedics, was assigned her case and quickly put a plan in place to provide Abby a diagnosis and care plan. With an idea of what was wrong, Dr. Davids sent her for X-rays and an MRI. He confirmed a diagnosis of miserable malalignment syndrome, an abnormal rotation of the femur, the tibia or both the femur and tibia that typically causes knee pain, but also can cause hip, ankle and back pain.

“I had never received so much information,” said Abby. “I was thinking, 'Wow, my family finally has the answers we’ve been looking for.'”

Dr. Davids didn’t stop there. He wanted more information on how this condition was specifically affecting Abby. This meant performing a gait study on Abby in the Shriners Children’s Northern California motion analysis center. Using the same technology used to animate characters in live-action movies, the Shriners Children’s team places markers on patients and is able to capture data to make precise and incredibly accurate surgical decisions.