Aww, that sucks. Well, if she would get the surgery now she would avoid alot of problems when she's older though. And she wouldn't ever have to worry about it again right? Tell her I was thinking about her and hopes she feels better.
As a person who has had a knee operated on (thanks to a friendly football game amongst brothers), it is worth getting it fixed. Had I not gotten it done, I wouldn't be as active as I am now. But...I fear when I am older it will have issues since I can hear it crack everytime I move it. So unfortunately they can't fix your joints perfectly, but at least she can enjoy good mobility while she is young if she gets it done. And hopefully the new system will be here before we get old.
yeah, she young now, so surgery would be better sooner than later.
but.. the doctor gave her two options. the first would be to fix the ligaments that hold her kneecap in place, since they're out of whack now. that would help a lot. but the real problem is just the way her leg is made. her shin is a bit out of place, which causes the problem.
so, the other surgery would be to actually move the bone of her lower leg. O_O this is a major surgery and would take a lot longer to recover. and it has a chance of weakening the bone.
but she can always just have the ligaments fixed and see how that goes, and have the major surgery done at a later time. it's a tough decision. she doesn't want any surgery at all... but it's kinda like her only choice at this point.