Isabella (Bella), 4, is an outgoing little girl who loves to sing and role play.  She especially loves pretending she’s Cinderella.

Bella’s parents, Rebecca and Felipe, were ecstatic when their little girl was born.  When Rebecca held her newborn, however, she noticed that the baby had four toes on one foot, and her left shin had a large dimple.

 A Difficult Diagnosis
The family was referred to Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare.  Mark Dahl, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon, diagnosed Bella with fibular hemimelia, the most common cause of at-birth (congenital) limb shortening.

Rebecca and Felipe learned that Bella is missing a bone (fibula) in the lower half of her leg.  Left untreated, Bella’s left leg would have been half the length of her right one.  Many families in similar circumstances choose to amputate the smaller leg.

“Dr. Dahl and the team at Gillette were just wonderful,” says Rebecca.  “We were there for nearly an hour as he explained our options.”

Complex Treatment
Bella’s parents decided to have their daughter undergo limb lengthening, instead of amputation.  The procedure is used to lengthen and/or straighten deformed bone segments.  Limb lengthening enables the body to grow new bone tissue, so that the limb can function as normally as possible.  It requires several surgeries to separate the bone segments.  Postsurgical treatment to lengthen the bone can be painful.

Reassuring Stories
Bella had her first surgery before she was 2 years old.  “Following the first lengthening procedure, her left leg was straighter and the same length as her right leg,” Rebecca says.  Bella had a second surgery when she was 3.  She will need additional surgeries until she is full-grown.

Rebecca says that the experience, although difficult, has opened her eyes to new things and new people.  “I remember listening to the KS95 for Kids® radiothon the year Bella was born,” she says.  “I heard the stories, and I just knew that everything would be OK.”

Listen to Bella's Story Here

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