Heel cord release

 Gabe has always had narrow ankles with poor tone in the ligaments and muscles that help stabilize his ankle joints.  Poor tone and floppy ligaments are Down syndrome related.  Orthotics have helped to correct this some. About a year and a half ago, Gabe’s pronation got worse. He began lifting the outer part of his foot off the ground and walking on the inner part of his foot because of the tightness in his calf pulling on his Achilles tendon. The arches of his feet began callousing from walking on them. His orthotics began to crack from the pressure. We went through PT and worked on foot alignment when walking. We’ve done daily calf stretching. It’s not helping a ton. Gabe often says his feet hurt and it looks painful to see him walk. We wanted to wait a year post spinal surgery to have his back heal completely before trying other options. After meeting with an orthopedic ankle specialist, we came up with a surgical plan. He is currently in the OR undergoing bilateral gastrocnemius, strayer lengthening, and possible Achilles lengthening procedures.  Basically they will be making an incision in his calf muscles to lengthen his calf so it doesn’t pull on his ankle. They may have to lengthen his Achilles tendons as well. He will be in walkable casts for 6 weeks afterwards. He will then wear knee high orthotics for about 6 months and start up PT again. The hope being he will have an arch to his foot, be able to push off his toes when he walks instead of stomping along, and be more comfortable on his feet.  Surgery will last 3 hours. We’ve been through hard before. While this isn’t simple or easy, it is much less intensive and fragile compared to heart or spine surgery.  

Never give up on Gabe. 💙💛