Would you have this surgery done if you were me?

[jmr106]

I'm a 35 year old male. I have tibial torsion in both legs. Some pics:

http://ibb.co/cz6au6
http://ibb.co/g7rKMm
http://ibb.co/ePEvu6
http://ibb.co/kTVPnR

Othopedic surgeon doesn't want to do surgery. He sent me to 4-6 weeks of physical therapy and said, "Come back and see me." I have completed 3 sessions so far. Theoretically, the insurance company will pay for a max of 20. I have pressure in my knees (where the Tibia joins the knees - he said my knees are fine) when I sit in a chair, walk, stretch out my legs, lay in the bed, drive, etc. The right leg also has the same issue, but not as bad as the left. I may be able to get away with just the left leg being done, if they'll do it. My therapist has her DPT and she said something similar to, "Yeah, that's a big thing to have, I would try to avoid surgery." But I'm uncomfortable. Neither of them are. They go home and continue their day. My job requires a lot of walking. Catch-22 is that I'm at said job with the insurance paying a lot towards all of this stuff. If I leave, then there's an insurance gap and huge bills. If I stay, I'm walking 5-8 miles per day making my legs tired/hurt. The $30 per therapy session plus the $200 that I owe for the orthopedic surgeon visit basically will put me at half of my deductible being paid. The therapist wants me to get the surgeon to recommend a neurologist for me to go see, because I have choppy muscle movements when doing exercises, as if they "hang" many times while doing a rep.

The dorsiflexion movement in the left ankle isn't as good as the right one. We're working on that in therapy, but not sure how much more we can get it to move. I'm having trouble driving. The left leg used for the brake pedal is extremely uncomfortable in the driver's seat. Having toe-out issues along with the rotated bone makes me have pain in my hip muscles. That's scary. I get odd and random muscle jerks throughout the day sometimes (not a lot of them) as basically an over-reactive reflex, for some reason. She was concerned when she checked my reflexes that they are so strong. If I do something like situps, when I begin to go down for the exercise, it is smooth. When I hit the middle of the rep, my core shakes violently. Not sure what that is, but I do it on various exercises.

My surgeon and therapist see it as a big thing, but I see it as my life and being able to walk properly. I did see where one website listed that tibial osteotomies "can lead to knee replacement" later. That's kind of odd. Are they concerned that one leg might end up being shorter/longer than the other or something, after surgery? I don't understand. How would rotating the Tibia cause me knee problems by getting it to go the CORRECT way that it should have been all long? At the time, I feel that my leg foot sort of slaps down, so I'm wondering if that leg isn't a little shorter because of how the bone is turned. Maybe a quarter of an inch or something.

As seen in photos, I was walking on the outsides of my feet when I first went to therapy. My feet no longer hurt and the exercises have helped my ankles, as well as have helped me walk more on the arch areas. My ankles are loosening up some. The therapist said it takes a good 4-6 weeks to start seeing a noticeable difference. I can't drive properly with the pressure in the bones, however.

Walking is uncomfortable. Sitting is uncomfortable. I'm reading that people are up and walking around a little within 1-2 weeks after this surgery. What gives with them not wanting to do surgery? I don't understand. My gait/walk is pretty wobbly and horrible. It seems like I walk a little straighter than before (probably due to ankle/foot strengthening), but my feet still kind of flop around from straight to out-toeing. The left leg is the worst.