Little People, Big World star Zach Roloff recently interacted with his fans and provided updates on his kids Jackson and Lilah’s health issues.
All three of Zach and Tori Roloff’s children — 5-year-old Jackson, 2-year-old Lilah, and 6-month-old Josiah — were diagnosed with achondroplasia, the most common type of dwarfism.
Zach, like his mom Amy Roloff, also has achondroplasia, resulting in shortened limbs and other tell-tale signs. Achondroplasia can also result in health issues, which has been the case for Zach and his two eldest children, Jackson and Lilah.
LPBW viewers watched last season as Jackson underwent surgery in an attempt to straighten his legs. The results are typically gradual, so Jackson still has quite a bit of bowing in his legs.
Zach recently shared a selfie on Instagram where he encouraged his 1 million followers to converse about anything on their minds.
One of Zach’s followers was curious about Jackson’s legs since surgery and asked how he was doing. As Zach explained, his firstborn child is doing “good” but noted, “it’s tough because the screws in his legs help straighten the leg as he grows.”
Zach Roloff shares son Jackson’s prognosis following leg surgery
Zach added that Jackson grows about one inch per year, so the results won’t be noticeable for a while. As Zach noted, “[An] average person with [the] same surgery you would see the difference a lot quicker.”
Zach and Tori’s daughter, Lilah, also faced some health issues in recent seasons of LPBW. The toddler was diagnosed with strabismus, commonly referred to as crossed eyes. Lilah began wearing glasses after a visit with the eye doctor. Surgery can often repair strabismus with favorable results.
Zach updates LPBW fans on daughter Lilah’s strabismus diagnosis
Another of Zach’s fans was curious whether Lilah would be undergoing such an operation. Zach shared that their current plan is to wait since Lilah is still working on her verbal communication skills.
Zach said that once Lilah is talking better, she can give them “better feedback with the tests they do before moving forward.”
Zach has undergone his fair share of surgeries and procedures related to his dwarfism. He’s had his legs broken in three places while surgeons placed metal plates to help straighten his legs, had a shunt placed in his skull to drain fluid into his stomach cavity, and then had surgery to repair the shunt when it began to fail and caused him headaches and vomiting.
Zach’s father, Matt Roloff, lives with a different form of dwarfism known as diastrophic dysplasia. He also underwent countless surgeries as a child and in adulthood and required more adaptive equipment, such as crutches, for mobility.
Little People, Big World airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on TLC and Discovery+.