From the time I can remember, I was born deformed with what appeared to be two ankle bones. My Mother always shared a story with me that she gave birth to me in only two pains/two pushes and ever since I was an impatient child. I was a ball of energy with little patience. My little patience has followed me throughout my life and I also am very active with little rest and relaxation.
At age 6, I was an avid competitive roller skater and the competition, no matter the age group, could not hold back my love for the rink. I won trophy after trophy until one day during a competition, my wheels locked, due to a pebble on the rink, and I landed on my knees. This is the first time I realized the pain in my right foot. My roller skating career was over and I remember many visits to foot doctors and chiropractors to try and fix my double ankle issue, but this did not solve any issue.
My parents sent me to an ankle specialist where I was provided an arch support prosthetic. I remember clearly that wearing this caused a great deal of pain. Instead of walking normally, my gait was completely misconstrued and I mysteriously lost my prosthetic (throw out of a window of a moving vehicle).
Since age 6, I never returned to the doctor, instead I learned to deal with the pain associated with the second ankle bone. I spent many nights with the cooling Mineral Ice and ankle brace that I purchased at my local Pharmacy. Late in 2010, I was preparing for a marathon when I realized that I had severe pain and that I could no longer train. It also became apparent to me that have lived with this pain for so long. I finally made an appointment with a foot doctor.
The foot doctor took one look at my foot and said, “Wow, how long have you had pain in this foot?” I replied, “My whole life.” Come to find out, this deformity that I had was not so uncommon after all. The second ankle is actually called a navicular accessory bone and it is a genetic condition and even better surgery can correct the deformity.
Surgery was February 11, 2011 and I am about 1 month out of the cast as I write this article. The surgery itself went well. The Surgeon removed the excess bone, reshaped the foot bone and reattached the tibialis posterior tendon. Post-op progress is going great although there is still a lot of pain trying to learn to walk again without the support of the excess bone. The pain from the excess bone is completely gone at this point. The main objective now is to attend physical therapy sessions and stretch the tibialis posterior tendon and force my foot to walk in a different way then it is used too. Progress is slow and I expect to have a full recovery in 8 to 12 months.
I wanted to share this story to help others with this deformity. It is extremely painful and can be taken care of as children. I am very happy that I went through with the surgery and want others to be aware in case their children are complaining about ankle pain.
For more information about the navicular accessory bone, please click here http://www.orthopaedia.com/display/Main/Accessory+navicular.