Ten fingers and ten toes…this is what all parents what to hear when their baby is born. However, those were not the words I heard following Addi Grace’s delivery. When the doctor said, “she is missing a toe” the nurse in me immediately started thinking about what else may be wrong in her tiny little body. Two weeks later we received the news that our beautiful baby girl was born with right sided fibular hemimelia. Fibular hemimelia is a rare birth defect affecting about 1 in 50,000 births. Fibular Hemimelia is a disorder where all or part of the fibular bone is missing. Characteristics of fibular hemimelia include a leg length discrepancy with structural deformities of the knee, ankle, and foot.

Addi Grace lives an active lifestyle including competition dance and cheerleading but over the years the pain in her ankle, leg, and hip has progressively increased. Her pain is what led us to find an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in treating fibular hemimelia.

Recently we traveled to West Palm Beach to meet with Dr. Paley who is internationally recognized for his expertise in limb lengthening and reconstruction. The wonderful news is that he can repair the deformities and feels strongly that she will have no limitations and significantly less pain after she recovers. The plan is to correct her leg length discrepancy using internal fixation and then reconstruct and stabilize her ankle. These procedures can be performed at the same time however she will be unable to bear weight for 6-8 weeks and will have strict limitations for 6-8 months. She will require two more surgeries in the future to remove the hardware. Dr. Paley requires an average of 9 weeks of daily physical therapy at his clinic.

The physical and financial logistics of how we can arrange to be in West Palm Beach for that long are yet to be determined. Medical insurance will cover the surgical fees and medications. However, it will not cover lost wages, the bills that will keep coming to our home, nor will it cover travel, lodging, or food expenses for the nine weeks we are there while she is recovering. A rough first draft of expenses estimates that we will need about $5,000 a month for 3 months.

Please join Addi’s Army Facebook page for surgical updates, prayer requests, support, and encouragement! We ask that you join us in praying that God will make a way for us to work out the financial details and bring healing to Addi Grace. If you are able, please donate to our cause so that AG will be able to get these necessary surgeries and we can stay with her during her recovery. The sooner we are able to raise the necessary funds the sooner we can begin making arrangements. Her surgery is tentatively scheduled the third week of June 2022.

~He said to her, “daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and by freed from your suffering.”~ Mark 5:34

Thank you,

~Bill and Mandy LaPradd