Emory offers an alternative to surgery

Julie Shaw, a 35-year-old WSB-FM account executive with Cox Radio Group in Atlanta, was born with Achilles tendon (heel cords) that were too short in both legs. The congenital condition put her in a wheelchair after surgery when she was only 12, leaving her in a cast from her thighs to her toes. After learning how to walk again, she battled her way back to an active life. She participated in cheerleading, gymnastics and track in high school and was captain of the University of Alabama dance team in college. In her 20s, Julie competed on ESPN, won the title of Miss Fitness America for the Southeast Region, and was nationally ranked.

She had surgery again, a procedure where they lengthened her Achilles tendon (performed a Z-Plasty), one leg at a time, drawing out the process for a year-and-a-half. She has been in chronic pain ever since. The ligaments in her calves and feet are overstretching to overcompensate for her condition.

"After surgery, the doctors said I should be a sedentary individual," says Julie. "I was concerned because I've always been athletic. After the second surgery, I lost a lot of strength and my calves a trophied." When doctors in Birmingham recommended surgery again, Julie never went back because they couldn't guarantee the surgery would work and get her out of pain.

Last year, when she moved to Atlanta, she consulted with leading sports medicine surgeon, Dr. Sam A. Labib, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Emory University, who specializes in knee and foot surgery at the Emory Sports Medicine Center in Atlanta.

"Being from Birmingham, we've always heard Emory was the leader in technology," Julie notes. "My Mom, who's been director of nursing and education at various hospitals in Birmingham, came with me to see Dr. Labib and was incredibly impressed with his knowledge and professionalism and agreed that he was on top of technology and the latest research in his field. She told me, "He knows what he's doing. If you're going to have surgery, have it with this man."

"Dr. Labib took a very unique approach," Julie explains. "He offered an alternative, a completely different concept than I'd ever heard before, which involved going in and lengthening my calf, not the Achilles. He did a very thorough exam and discovered I also have problems with my back, which he believes are related to a birth injury. Arthritis and tendonitis have set in my legs. He recommended physical therapy for my legs and my back."

Julie was impressed not only with Dr. Labib and the Emory Sports Medicine Center, but his team of residents, athletic trainers and staff, and says her physical therapist was wonderful.

"I couldn't even get to the normal range of flexibility," says Julie. "After going to Physical Therapy at Emory, my pain was significantly less and I gained more flexibility.

"In the past, before coming to Emory, I'd felt like a guinea pig. My doctors did research studies on me and paraded my medical condition around at conferences. I felt more like a specimen, a rat in a lab, than a patient.

"Dr. Labib listened to me and my concerns about having surgery again," Julie says. "He didn't rush me into surgery like a lot of doctors would. That's unique. He isn't going to cut on me just to cut on me."

"Right now, I teach aerobics and I'm a working professional with two young children so I want to postpone surgery as long as I can. Dr. Labib offered a new alternative to a condition and the pain I've lived with every day of my life. He offered an alternative to surgery and will be there when I?m ready to have it."