When I was seven
I underwent surgery on my left foot for what the surgeon thought was a
ganglion, the lump was about the size of a pea, was located in the arch of the
foot, and was causing discomfort whilst wearing certain shoes. A straight incision was made in the sole of
my foot approximately 40mm long. After
pathology testing of the lump it was discovered that I had Ledderhose Disease
(Although I was told it was
Two years later
the lump had grown back and was two lumps, one the size of a pea and a second
smaller lump beside it, and was at a point where it needed to be removed
again. Whilst the lump was regrowing,
various treatments were trialled (Twice daily Vitamin E cream, Comfrey ointment
are two that I can remember) with weekly measurements made of the lump by my
father, however the lump had continued to grow.
This time the incision was a cross on the sole of my foot 50mm long and
20mm wide. After this my GP referred me
to a plastic surgeon that had experience with
Over the next
eight years the lumps regrew and reached a point where I was again experiencing
difficulties walking and wearing shoes.
Surgery was again the option of choice and the lumps, this time three
distinct nodules were removed through a 60mm curved incision.
Three years later
I had the lumps removed a fourth time through a 90mm curved incision, and was
informed that if it regrew the only way to remove it for certain would be to
undergo skin grafts to the sole of my foot.
At this time I also had a Garrod’s pad removed from the PIP
After a further
seven years, the lump had regrown and a lump was also present in my right foot,
as well as mild thickening and initial cord formation around the cord of the
flexor tendon of my right ring finger. I
again consulted a surgeon and was encouraged to wait and not undergo surgery
unless I absolutely had to. It was nice
to have a surgeon that didn’t want to jump straight in with the knife (This
could be as he also suffers from
I am 36, male,
Caucasian. My father had
For me, I would
say surgery is not the way to treat the disease unless it is impacting too
greatly on your life, fixed flexion of fingers or inability to walk. The pain I put up with but am regularly woken
at night with aching in my feet.
Hopefully trials will soon be finished on collagenase and maybe there
will even be gene therapy or stem cell research that may help. I hope that this happens before I give in to
the pain and undergo surgery for the fifth time. The skin grafts that had been mentioned
earlier were not recommended by my current surgeon unless there was no other
option as grafts to the sole of the foot have a higher failure rate than other
areas of the body.