Little People, Big World stars Zach Roloff and Tori Roloff shared sad news about their son Jackson, who underwent leg surgery in November to correct the bowing in his legs. The ongoing season of LPBW has shown the 5-year-old’s recovery process, which is not proceeding as well as his parents hoped. In a clip from the next new episode published at Entertainment Tonight, Tori and Zach talked about their concerns.
“There is legitimately something wrong,” Tori said in a confessional. “He isn’t progressing” like his doctors said he should, six months after the surgery. Jackson is still complaining about pain, so they scheduled a doctor’s appointment. Tori and Zach want to make sure “there’s no actual structural damage… and it’s just his body’s having a harder time recovering,” Tori explained.
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There is also a scene with Zach and his mother, Amy Roloff. “If something isn’t healing right or growing right, I want to adjust… especially before this new baby comes,” Zach told Amy. Since the scene was filmed, the couple learned that their third child, son Josiah, was diagnosed with achondroplasia like Zach and his older siblings. Tori and Zach are also parents to daughter Lila Ray, 2, and welcomed Josiah in April.
In a previous LPBW episode, viewers saw Jackson’s struggles the day after his surgery. “It’s the day after Jackson’s surgery and he’s gotta start taking steps with his walker,” Zach told viewers. “He’s been through a lot the last day. But we’ve gotta get him up, we’ve got to get him taking a few steps to get going again.”
The episode included footage of Tori struggling to get Jackson to stand behind his walker. Unfortunately, Jackson only wanted to go back to laying on the couch. “The faster that we start practicing walking, the stronger our legs get and the faster we get to do things,” Tori told her son. “I’m glad that you at least got up, we’ll try again later.”
Before the surgery, Tori explained to viewers that the procedure involves putting plates on the growth plates on Jackson’s legs. This would “hopefully slow down the growth and allow the bones to even out,” Tori explained, reports Entertainment Tonight. Tori later said she was “more nervous” about the surgery than Zach, who was concerned that Tori’s worries would have a negative impact on Jackson.
“I’m just worried that she will not handle it well, which will make Jackson not handle it well,” Zach told viewers. “We have to put our big boy pants on. This is about him, you know, so we have to be, like, level-headed.”
Zach was recently hospitalized. Last week, Zach fell and was rushed to the emergency room, Tori revealed. They thought he broke his hand, but he only dislocated his thumb, and nothing was broken. She included a photo of Zach wearing a hand brace. “So thankful it wasn’t more serious and even more thankful for the nurses and doctors at the emergency room (still not sure if that’s where we should’ve gone),” Tori wrote. LPBW airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.
