Jeremy's Story




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Jeremy's Story

On this page I will explain Jeremy's birth defect as well as the surgery he went through and how things are now.

Jeremy was born missing the fibula bone in his left leg as well at 2 toes on his left foot and 1 toe on his right foot. The tibia bone in his left leg was severely bent at the front of his leg and his foot was bent backwards behind his knee. His right foot was curved in a lot. At first, we thought "oh, the doctors will be able to fix everything and he'll be fine". As time went on, we learned that the tibia bone in his left leg would have to be straightened and his left foot amputated. We were devastated, but at least in the end, he would still be "fine".

Despite Jeremy being very premature, he developed at a fast rate. He learned to crawl at 9 months old (6 1/2 mts. corrected age). Even though he didn't have the use of his left leg, Jeremy stood on one leg from the time he was 9 months old until he got his prosthesis at 17 months old. His disability never stopped him from doing anything he really wanted to and it was so nice to see that desire in him!

Jeremy had his left foot amputated on July 20/01 at the age of 13 1/2 months old. Jeremy's tibula bone was broken and straightened in his left leg at the same time, they had to insert a steel pin behind the bone and then removed it once the bone pieces had fused back together. Jeremy also had his achilles tendon lengthened on his right heel. It was a 4 hour surgery and we were very glad once it was over.

Below I have photos of Jeremy and I will explain each one as I go along so you can get a better idea of what Jeremy has been through and how he is coping with it now at 2 yrs. old.

Jeremy in July/01 just before his surgery. You can see his left leg abnormalities as well as how his right foot curves in.

This is a picture of Jeremy on the day he came home from the hospital, 3 days after his surgery. He had a full leg cast on his right leg and a bandage on his left.

Jeremy was back to standing on one leg shortly after the surgery, even with the cast on!

2 1/2 months after the surgery, Jeremy was all heeled.

Jeremy got his 1st prosthesis on Oct. 31/00, 3 1/2 months after his surgery. He was almost 17 months old. It was such a happy day for us, we waited for this day for a long time! We choose to have the prosthesis laminated with tractor material. In this picture you can see how curved in his right foot is.

It didn't take Jeremy very long to learn to walk with his toy walker. This is one of his favorite things to do still to this day!

When Jeremy was 22 months old he would stand for very short periods of time all by himself! We were so happy to see him do this! Sometimes he would even take a step or two before falling.

After 8 months of having his prosthesis, Jeremy finally took his FIRST STEPS on July 5/01 and I was even lucky enough to catch it on camera!! He was 25 months of age when he started to walk. Walking is a normal child development stage but after all that Jeremy has been through and how long I have waited, it felt like he climbed Mount Everest!!! I'll NEVER forget the warm feeling in my heart the first time I saw him take his FIRST STEPS!!!!!

July 12/01-Jeremy walking and caught on camera - almost looks like he's in a race! He is walking more and more everyday, but still resorts to crawling a lot. In time, that will change.

Jeremy received his 3rd prosthesis in January 2002 - he is a growing boy!!! He really likes the tractors on his prosthesis so we stayed with them for one more time.

This is a side view close-up of Jeremy's left leg.

This was taken one month after the surgery. Jeremy is back to his "happy self", such an amazing child!!

The big cast and bandages did not stop Jeremy from being curious and getting into things!

In Oct./00 Jeremy started wearing this night brace to correct his right foot from curving in. He wore it for 12 hours at night and after 6 months his right foot was straight.

A favorite picture of mine of Jeremy showing off his prosthesis - 20 months old.

March/01-21 months old-Jeremy would walk and push anything that he could!

Jeremy out grew his prosthesis after 5 months & got his 2nd one on March 29/01. This time we had John Deere tractors laminated on the prosthesis because he loves to ride Grandpa's John Deere Gator!