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Healthwatch 16: New Surgery to Fix Bent Leg Bone

MAHONING TOWNSHIP — A longtime track and field coach at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove spent much of his legendary career dealing with a leg that w...

MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- A longtime track and field coach at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove spent much of his legendary career dealing with a leg that wasn't straight.

Jim Taylor first started noticing his leg was curved decades ago, but only now did he get the leg straightened.

A rare disease caused the problem and a first-time surgery at Geisinger Medical Center fixed it.

Taylor, of Selinsgrove, is thrilled to now have what most of us take for granted: a straight leg. For decades he coached track and field at Susquehanna University while dealing with a bone that was bending.

"I have a scar up here. They put the rod down underneath my knee and pushed it down through the bone," said Taylor, explaining the procedure.

Taylor had surgery last year at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville to fix a curved tibia.

He brought the X-rays to show us how it looked before and after.

"It's been a long journey."

Taylor took us on that journey, telling us how it started in 1968. He was 31 and he went to the hospital with pains in his leg.

"Next thing I know, I have five doctors around me asking how old I am. I said, 'I'm 31.' They kept asking me this and as I mentioned, I thought, 'Oh, I'm going to die tomorrow,'" Taylor recalled.

Taylor was diagnosed with Paget's disease, a rare disease that attacks the bone, usually occurring in older people.

"Over time, you get micro-fractures that heal quickly. Over time, you get bones that are straight. If it starts to crack, it starts to bend and heal, bend and heal, and overtime ends up in a bent shape," explained orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michal Suk.

Dr. Suk at Geisinger came up with a solution to help Jim Taylor four decades after his struggles began.

The X-ray shows the bone was cut in several spots, then split open and aligned over a titanium rod, a rod that Taylor kept as a souvenir.

"Once we do the mechanical part, the body has to take over and heal, and thankfully Jim's a great candidate and his leg healed up very nicely and we ended up with a good result," Dr. Suk said.

Taylor is now thrilled to be walking without a limp, but was a little surprised finding his surgery was a first of a kind.

"I'm just thankful everything went well, OK?! " laughed Taylor.

And he hopes that the first-time surgery he went through is now able to help others.

"Hopefully this is something maybe someone else has this disease and maybe this is the beginning of something they can do for other people."

After years of dealing with a curved leg bone, Jim Taylor developed some problems with his knee. He plans to have that replaced soon. Then he's planning on golf, hiking, and a fully active lifestyle.

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