27 Yr woman walking after 6 years
A series of surgeries is now enabling a 27-year-old woman to walk, after she was immobile for six years because of rheumatoid arthritis.Sivya of Thodupuzha in Kerala has undergone hip resurfacing and surgeries in the knees at Kovai Medical Center and Hospital. She is now able to walk with some support after being bed-ridden for six years, says the hospital in a release. Hip resurfacing enables people even to squat or sit cross-legged.After trying out various alternative forms of medicine, she had been brought to the hospital's Consultant Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon S.G. Thirumalaisamy.Six joint replacements were required and the surgeon advised surgeries in phases.He wanted to correct the problems in the knees and hip joints first and then take up the elbows.Describing Sivya's problem, the release says that arthritis is a crippling disease and usually affects people aged above 50. What Sivya had been suffering is a rare juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.The problem set in when she was 14 years old and worsened.
All the joints in the hips, knees and elbows had deteriorated into a condition called bony ankylosis (fusion of joints into a single bone).Apart from not being able to walk for the last six years, Sivya needed help to even turn in the bed. Two to three persons had helped in daily activities such as eating and cleaning. Now, she is on a path to normal life, the hospital says.
All the joints in the hips, knees and elbows had deteriorated into a condition called bony ankylosis (fusion of joints into a single bone).Apart from not being able to walk for the last six years, Sivya needed help to even turn in the bed. Two to three persons had helped in daily activities such as eating and cleaning. Now, she is on a path to normal life, the hospital says.
