Isabella Matthews awaits major knee surgery after doctors discover a bucket handle tear
A primary school-girl will spend her Christmas holidays in pain as she awaits major knee surgery for a bucket handle tear to the lateral meniscus in her right knee.
Townsville
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A PRIMARY schoolgirl will spend her Christmas holidays in pain as she awaits major knee surgery for a tear to the lateral meniscus in her right knee.
Isabella Matthews was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when she was three – after her mum, Rachael Ayres, was told her daughter walked funny.
“I had people pulling me up when she started walking saying something wasn’t right and we didn’t get the diagnosis until she was three,” she said.
Ms Ayres said she believes her nine-year-old daughter tore the muscle in her knee earlier this year but had to wait for a medical diagnosis.
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“We got the MRI in September, but we waited six months for that MRI to be done, and we got the results in October and then we were referred urgently to the orthopaedic surgeon,” she said.
“The surgeon said he is going to try to repair the torn meniscus and there is a chance it can’t be repaired and there is also a cyst in between the two knee joints that is digging into the bone.”
Ms Ayres said her daughter was in daily pain, which meant she was taking a cocktail of drugs for relief.
“She is handling (the pain) very well, she has a very high pain tolerance because she has had to put up with it for her whole life,” she said.
“When it is really bad she will tell me it’s bad but with her autism, she doesn’t verbalise her pain so I just have to keep an eye out for how she is walking.”
Isabella will be in Year 5 next year but will likely miss six weeks of term one while she recovers from surgery.
“The surgeon told me she will be up walking straight away but she will need a wheelchair and crutches for the pain,” she said.
Ms Ayres said her daughter was remaining positive despite the diagnosis.
“She doesn’t let it get to her and she is very positive and her teacher said at least she isn’t victimising herself.”
Originally published as Isabella Matthews awaits major knee surgery after doctors discover a bucket handle tear