Growing Pains

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How She's Grown

Born with dwarfism, Caitlin Schroeder decided to undergo a grueling surgery and recovery process to lengthen her legs.

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The child's eyes fill with tears, and her chest begins to heave. "Ow, Daddy, ow," she sobs, her wide eyes still fixed on the television with desperate intensity.

"I know, these are hard," the therapist says. She bends the girl's knee further; the child squeezes her eyes shut and screams. The little girl's father closes his eyes, too, and his shoulders tremble.

If Caitlin's own pain isn't enough to handle, there is always the agony of others to witness here, patients in different stages of the same excruciating process. Caitlin vividly recalls the misery of her own first therapy sessions.

"That was really bad," Caitlin says, wincing at the memory. "They just pushed, and I was terrified to have my knees bent." The pain often drives patients, children and adults alike, to scream in agony.

Caitlin didn't make a sound, Jennifer remembers, "but tears just started pouring down her face. And tears were pouring down my face. That was absolutely a low point. That was when I realized what this was really going to be like."

It's been six weeks since Caitlin stopped lengthening. Her bones are healing, and she attends physical therapy only twice a week, instead of every day. She is hopeful that her bones have healed well, and she's only about a month away from the final surgery to remove the devices on her legs. She'll find out today at a clinic appointment with Paley.

Caitlin's therapist, Brita Grothe, a petite young woman in black exercise pants, comes in, greets Caitlin warmly and gets started. She rotates Caitlin's ankles and notes the range of motion. Caitlin clenches her jaw as Grothe lifts her leg to stretch her thigh muscles.

"You're so tough," Grothe says, watching her carefully.

When the therapy session is over, Caitlin does her own "pin care," carefully unwrapping the gauze around each pin site and cleaning the opening with a sterilized cotton swab. Jennifer helps Caitlin shower and dress, and then it's time to head upstairs for a long afternoon in the clinic waiting room. Paley sees so many patients a day -- and he is so frequently called into surgeries he often doesn't see patients until three to six hours after their appointment time.

They are finally called at 4 p.m. for Caitlin's 11:30 a.m. appointment. Paley arrives in the examination room 20 minutes later after reviewing X-rays of Caitlin's legs. A soft-spoken middle-age man with striking blue eyes, Paley gets down to business immediately.

"The bone regeneration looks really good," Paley says to Jennifer. "She's solid."

"Wow," Jennifer says, visibly relieved. "Really?" Caitlin is grinning.