Picture courtesy of Andrew Berger, Ball State Daily News.
Now an adult, she’s thankful for the confidence she found at the young age of 13.
Rewind to her elementary school years in Evansville, Indiana, when Jayden began to experience leg pain. Her parents noticed the pain and fatigue during school field trips or even on visits to the local grocery store. Jayden said they would give her ibuprofen to help with the pain and get on with her day.
This pattern had become her normal.
However, what wasn’t typical was the shape of Jayden’s legs when she walked – her feet turned inward.
For two years, the family sought a diagnosis to fix the orthopedic issue that was causing her pain. After a pair of misdiagnoses, they found Shriners Children’s St. Louis.
“My mom’s boss recommended Shriners because he had heard nothing but good things about it,” Jayden said.
Within an hour of arriving at the St. Louis location, they’d met J. Eric Gordon, M.D., and had a diagnosis of bilateral femoral anteversion.
“Children with femoral aversion have an inward twist to the femur that turns their feet in. Most children are born with it and then grow out of it by age 8. It causes intoeing, and if children are having functional problems after age 8, that would be an indication to do an osteotomy to straighten the bone,” said Dr. Gordon.
Having an answer felt like a relief.
“I was amazed that there’s a name for what I’d been experiencing. I finally felt not crazy,” Jayden said.
I loved the hospital. All the staff was so nice and wonderful.
Dr. Gordon offered two treatment options: physical therapy or surgery. The family chose to go with the non-surgical route first. However, after the pain persisted, Jayden decided enough was enough: She wanted surgery.
“Corrective surgery involves cutting the bone in the middle part and untwisting it. A rod is in place inside the bone in order to hold it in alignment while it heals,” said Dr. Gordon.
The surgery took place on Halloween Day 2018. By the beginning of 2019, she was taking steps without the use of a walker or crutches.
“It was the most painful experience of my life. It was hard to learn to walk all over again,” Jayden said.
She worked through the pain with the goal of one day walking without the chronic pain she had lived with for years beforehand.
“Helping Jayden relearn to walk again was heartbreaking on my part as her mom, but watching her determination to push through the pain and finally be able to live without pain made every part of the process worth it. Watching her live her daily life and be able to do everyday things that others take for granted without pain has changed not only her life but our whole family,” said her mother, Crystal. “We are forever grateful and owe so much to Shriners Children's Hospital for the amazing staff and treatment that we received, and for giving our daughter the priceless gift of the rest of her life without pain.”
“If left untreated, the consequence is that the children will continue to turn their feet in when they walk, and often it will cause tripping with sports and other activities. Patients with femoral aversion also have a slightly higher rate of having some anterior knee pain that develops,” said Dr. Gordon.
Now a sophomore at Ball State University, Jayden studies journalism and creative writing. She’s currently the associate opinion editor at the student-run newspaper, The Daily. Through that role, she published an article, The Price of Healing, about how thankful her family was to find Shriners Children’s St. Louis.
“I loved the hospital. All the staff was so nice and wonderful. They even made sure my little brother, who was with me, that he was entertained,” she said.
Jayden is a young adult who dreams of writing professionally. She offers this advice to other patients: “It is your body, and if you have the opportunity to get rid of the severe pain you deal with, I’d say go through with it. There’s no telling where I’d be without the surgery. Be confident in your decision – go for it.”
