Accessory Navicular ????

We found out at the end of May that Olivia may be facing surgery on both of her feet. She has been complaining for a little over a year now that her ankles hurt so bad when she plays ball. Me, being very unsympathetic, told her that she had to realize that playing sports is painful and if she wasn't tough enough to hang in there than maybe she shouldn't be playing. However, the complaining continued and I began to realize that Olivia really isn't a complainer by nature. As soccer season got under way this past spring she would come home crying that her feet hurt so bad. I finally decided she needed to go see a doctor just in case. In the meantime I started researching what could possibly be the culprit. I came across an article about Accessory Navicular Syndrome and as I read through it I had the Ah-Ha that it was 100% describing Olivia's feet. Every symptom that was listed Olivia had. When we went to our family doctor he thought maybe she just needed more support in her shoes, but he referred us to a podiatrist just to be safe. It took just a quick glance at her feet, a brief glimpse of the x-rays and the specialist confirmed what we had researched. She indeed had the syndrome, which they do not refer to is as such any more. She received the heartbreaking news that she could have surgery now, and miss out on fall sports, but be ready for basketball. Or she could choose to wait even longer, but eventually the only cure for the irritation would be surgery eventually. She bravely opted to have the surgery. They go in and remove the accessory bone, then reattach the posterior tibial tendon to the navicular bone using an anchor and sutures. It is a 12-16 week recovery after the surgery. The first 2 weeks will be non-weight bearing with feet elevated and in a wheelchair, then the following 6-8 weeks she will be in walking boots, followed by more weeks of braces. Looks like we will be having a very low key summer. She will play in the Utah Summer Games the week of June 13 and then the surgery will be the following week! Good luck girl we love you!