Please keep in mind that I am not a doctor and have no medical background. I am just writing based on my experiences and occasionally I may get things wrong.
We were on a hike about a month ago and we realized that Isa was having major issues walking. We had realized a few years ago that she had some in toeing but left it alone because of an earlier talk with a specialist. We noticed that Max, her little brother had a significant in toe and decided to take him to a specialist when he was two (he is now almost 5). The specialist Dr. Vin said that most kids outgrow this problem, something our pediatrician also said. Dr. Vin said that he thought Max was too young to decided anything yet, usually at about 5 is when you want to decide. He said that Max had a double dose of rotation since he had rotation in two of his bones. He said that unless a child has severe in toeing that causes him or her to slow down or fall than surgery should probably not be considered but it is a family choice that has to be made.
We decided to leave Max's in toeing alone since he was so young and see where it goes. So when we saw it in Isa we thought it would be same type of situation but that day while hiking we knew it had to be looked at. Jon and I started talking and realized that Isa did a lot of falling but we always attributed it to her clumsiness. We even made sure she wore pants each time she went out to her playground since she was very likely to fall. We came to the conclusion that it might not just be her clumsiness but also her in toeing.
We went to see Dr. Vin again this time for Isa. Dr. Vin is a pediatric orthopedic specialist and his office is small and very welcoming. Dr. Vin's bedside manner is remarkable. We felt confident upon walking into the doctors office hoping that we would get the same response that we got when we talked about Max. Within a few minutes of examination Dr. Vin explained to us that Isa had a very high dosage of rotation in her femur and hip bone. I felt the "cloud" once again over me. This was not going to be the same as with Max. Dr. Vin explained that her bone rotation was very extreme, usually a significant femur rotation is 45 degrees and Isa's is 90 degrees! He first clarified that braces and orthopedic shoes have not been proven to help with her problem. Dr. Vin said that usually he recommends that the problem be left to resolve on it's own or if it doesn't interfere with the child's life to leave it, however in her case she would probably continue to have problems with falling (but no more extreme than she was currently having) and will not be able to lead any type of active lifestyle. This news was heartbreaking, far more than the exotropia! I felt overwhelmed : ( He said that we should seriously consider surgery and that it would significantly help her. He said that if we decided to do surgery, he would be performing it in her femur bones. He would have to cut both femurs and realign them using pins that would later be removed. She would be in a cast from mid thigh to down past her ankles.
We left the office with very little to say. Jon and I knew that it would be a very difficult decision. We discussed the fact that we didn't want to put our baby through surgery but we also didn't want to limit her possibilities later on in life. She loves ballet and soccer and we knew that those would not be something she could continue. It wasn't a matter of wanting her to be an athlete or a dancer but anything like walking or running would be difficult for her. I even read somewhere that riding a bike was difficult for someone with her problem.
Here is a site that might be helpful
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