Dubai: Judith Ratanayake, 12, has gained 6cm in height and has a straight left leg following her surgery three months ago on February 5, much to her delight and that of her parents.
Gulf News reported earlier on the brave little girl of Dubai, suffering from achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism, undergoing a laborious and expensive surgery on February 5 this year to relieve the constant pain in her legs, straighten her S-shaped thigh bones and add some height to her one-metre-tall frame.
The surgery was carried out by Dubai-based paediatric orthopaedic surgeon Dr Mark Sinclair. The expensive surgery, which will eventually cost Dh700,000 for two legs, has been a gift to Judith courtesy of the UK-based charity, Little Wings Foundation. So far only one leg has been operated on.
“I am delighted to be 6cm taller. Initially the external fixator with pins going into my bone caused great discomfort and pain. However, in the last one month, the pain has reduced considerably and I am feeling quite good now. Going to school and being surrounded with supportive friends and teachers has distracted me from the pain and I am glad I did well in my exams that took place just a month after my surgery. I look forward to going to grade 8 by the end of summer,” said the young girl.
“We are all very happy for Judith. My daughter has been remarkably strong in bearing the pain and continuing her studies. In just over month she resumed going to school in a wheelchair. On March 9, her first day at school since her surgery, Judith wrote her exams and managed to get a fairly good score. Each day as she improves a little, it gives us all great hope,” said Renuka Ratanayake, Judith’s mother.
Dr Sinclair, who was more than delighted by his patient’s progress, remarked: “Judith has been holding up very well to such a complex surgery and manages to smile always despite the pain. It will take time for her bones to become solid again but she has gained 6cm on the operated leg and might need a shoe-lift or special brace to correct a dis-balance resulting from differing heights of the operated and non-operated leg. We carried out another surgery on the same leg last month to adjust the fragments of the bone. Normally the external fixator corrects the deformity millimetre by millimetre. I decided to adjust all the fragments in one go with this surgery to gain time and spare Judith the pain of gradual correction. In these three months, her left leg has straightened out and her ankle joint has aligned very well. Her knee joint will take a little more time but by the end summer I am confident that Judith will have completely healed before she goes to the next class,”
The prognosis looks good, he said.
“I am confident that Judith will have completely healed before she goes to the next class. Her progress has been excellent thus far and she needs some time before we carry out a similar procedure on the other leg. We haven’t fixed any time for that but hope the surgery can be carried out next year,” he said.
