Hello Ana Villaflor, First your english is fine no problem. I had my operation when I was 11 years old and now I am 21. I tried Bobath when I was very little when I stilled lived in Germany I believe. Bobath according to my mother it did help a lot which I started at the age of 5. I am not sure if you have ever heard of Vojta it is another technique which helped me open my hand. Before the technique my hand was like a fist, now I can use my hands normally. I just write some what slower then people without CP. I started Vojta within weeks after I left the hospital. In 1985 I traveled to Budapest Hungary to go to the Pėto Institute, in order to be taught the Pėto technique. There I learned how to walk with assistance of people and canes. The people at the institute also said I should not have an operation. It is there where I made a mistake instead of staying there for a year I left after two months, because I did not understand the people. Also I did not fully understand why I was there, I cried constantly. I was 7 years old at the time. If I would have stayed there I think I could be walking by myself now. But I can not change the past I can only think of the future. About the surgery, it was recommend by an American doctor not a PT. We also tried exercises again, but I began to loose interest. Currently I am not doing any exercises except walking on a treadmill at college. But my walking is getting worse now, I am start PT again, I don't know. Jan ana villaflor wrote: > Sorry, Jan but its available for me to know how old you were when you > were > operated,and how old are you now. > Iam pt here in Argentina.Its common here, that when children with CP > are > ready to learn how to walk or to begin with all the first steps about > walking,surgeons decide to operate them. > Sometimes Pt fight with the doctors, because we want to do the best > without > surgery,avoiding the idea and having controlls on deformedly positions > with > speciall tecniques as Bobath,Pėto,Castillo Morales or Souchard ones.In > my > own experience, if we will wait all about the surgery in patients and > we wil > not have the rutin exercises at home,nothing changes. > Sorry about my english. Ana Villaflor. > > -----Original Message----- > De: Jan Nottmeier <[log in to unmask]> > Para: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> > Fecha: Lunes 1 de Marzo de 1999 23:11 > Asunto: Re: [ Re: Quiet list] > > >Hi Linda, > > > >Saw your post and I thought I should respond. I had my tendons > >lengthened behind my knee about ten years ago. I had my tendons > >lengthened in Germany because the health care insurance covered it > over > >there at that time But that is another story. Anyway before I left > for > >Europe my doctor in the United States told me to expect to be > >hospitalized 4-5 days, had I elected to have the operation in the US. > > > > >Right after my surgery I had major cramps for about ten days while I > was > >in a hospital in Germany .As for recovery time, my legs were in a > cast > >for about 6 weeks, followed by 2 months of exercises to get the > strength > >back into my legs. After spending 6 weeks in a cast I was unable to > >lift my legs out of the cast after it was cut open. > > > >Following the surgery I could really tell a difference I was able to > >strengthen my legs out and could stand up tall. After about seven > >months however, my legs started to get weaker again. My doctor at > the > >time said that I should start wearing braces again to straighten out > my > >lags again. But I had trouble sleeping because they really hurt at > >times. I should have most likely tried to fight through the > discomfort > >but I didn't. Now my walking is getting worse and worse with time, > but > >I don't know if I want to go back to that doctor. > > > >I didn't mean to discourage you, but I wanted you to know the > possible > >advantages and possible drawbacks both short term and long term. But > I > >am not a doctor, I was telling my personal experiences, so the > surgery > >may work for you. If you do decide to have the operation I hope > >everything will go well for you. If you have any more questions > please > >do not hesitate to ask. > > > >Jan > > > > > > > >Linda Wagner wrote: > > > >> Kim, > >> > >> How old were you when you had your achilles tendons lengthened? > What > >> was your recovery like? > >> > >> Linda > >