Name : Andrea J. (Mother, Kandi Franco)
E-mail : Kandi.Franco@kp.org
Child: 13 years old
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Area(s) affected: Both feet, both knees, Left hand and forearm
Personal History:
Andrea had surgery on December 29, 2006 to correct some deformities in her left
foot and had many complications due to that surgery. She got an infection in the
bone and soft tissues and had to have subsequent surgeries and an amputation of
the middle toe. A good portion of the tissues around the site of the infection
had to be removed so she was left with a huge hole in her foot. We could
actually see through to the other side of her foot and there was a lot of
exposed bone. She was in the hospital for over 2 weeks. When she finally came
home she had a PICC line and needed antibiotics to be administered every 8
hours.
Andrea required daily trips to the doctor to pack the open wound under
"conscious sedation." We learned that most medical personnel do not handle
pediatric pain very well. They actually packed the wounds while she was awake a
few times and the pain was excruciating. I have never heard crying like that in
my entire life. I had to really insist on sedation for all painful procedures
and examinations. Initially the doctors said it was not possible to sedate her
but I later learned it was. I'm so sorry I didn't insist on it right from the
beginning.
Fortunately, Andrea recovered and is actually playing on the girl's school
basketball team. It was a big challenge finding shoes that could fit her left
foot so in the end we had a custom AFO (brace) with a build-up (lift) made for
her left foot which she wears without a shoe. It's kind of like a cast or boot
with a lift but it's lightweight and more streamlined to her leg.
The AFO has really changed the way we look at her future. She has a very big leg
length discrepancy (approx. 7cm.) and we thought the only way to deal with it as
she grows was to eventually amputate her left foot and make up the difference
with a prosthesis. It seems like now that she has a brace with a good design and
the proper build-up she won't need to go through all that after all.
I hope after reading our story people will know that there are options for
controlling pain of pediatric patients. I also want to share our
frustration in finding shoes that fit anyone with deformities in the foot.
No one had ever suggested to us that maybe there just wasn't a shoe out there
for her. The custom AFO she's now wearing has really helped her to become more
active which has really boosted her confidence. I'm happy to share pictures if
anyone needs to get an idea of what kind of AFO has worked for her.
Kandi Franco (Andrea's mom)