Re: just had ultrasound- need advice- dr in NYC and other stuff

[Guest guest]

Hear is a link with a check list with questions for parents to ask

their doctors.

http://pages.ivillage.com/ponseti_links/

HTH,

[Guest guest]

Welcome! We were in your position last July. This group was wonderful, and

made me feel so much better! I talked with many dr. and had many ultrasounds.

From what I was told from all of them is that they can not determine severity on

ultrasound. Dr. Ponseti even told us this when we called him.

My son was corrected with 6 casts and is now in the dennis brown bar and shoes

for 23/7. It took awhile to adjust, but again everyone on this site was full of

advise.

We were worried about sports, but there is a list of professional athletes with

clubfoot. I am sure some people will list them. 's feet were turned in

quite a bit. If he looked down, he could see the bottoms of his feet. The feet

were also turned in slightly. They were corrected very quickly with the casts.

We were lucky and surprised, but he did not have to have a tenotomy, which is

where they cut the Achilles tendon. This procedure is very common in babies

with clubfoot, and is noninvasive.

Your baby will have many happy years participating in whatever sports they

choose. I know others on here will give you wonderful advise on dr. Good luck

and congratulations!

just had ultrasound- need advice- dr in NYC and

other stuff

Hi there,

Thankfully I have found this wonderful support group. I am 22 weeks

pregnant with my first child and on

Friday we had our second ultrasound confirming that our little boy is

going to be born

with bilateral clubfeet. My husband and I are having a difficult time

accepting this

diagnosis and we are still keeping hope that he will be born with

normal feet. I know that

is not realistic and I know that it is a very correctible problem. I

guess I am just going

through my sadness and anger stage. I am experiencing a lot of guilt

wondering if this is

something I did or didn't do. I can' t find any answers. My husband

and I are extremely

athletic and I am very scared that our little boy won't be able to

participate in sports. I

don't know the severity of his clubfeet- when we asked the ultrasound

dr. he said they

looked pretty turned in. He also said he hasn't seen clubfoot for two

years. Is it possible to

tell severity in the ultrasound?

We were first told our baby may have clubfoot about two weeks ago and

in that time I have

done a fair amount of research which has brought me to this group and

the Ponsetti

Method. I

am excited hearing the success stories and I am scared about what

lies ahead. I emailed

Dr. Ponsetti and he sent me back the names of four doctors in my

area. I would love to

hear any input or experience any of you may have had with these docs.

I have read many

accounts here of Ponsetti doctors who have tweaked the method a

little here and there,

leading to unfavourable results. This worries me tremendously and I

am wondering if we

are better off going to Iowa and seeing Dr. Ponsetti himself. I live

in NYC and the names

that Dr. P. gave me are: Dr. Scher, Dr. Wallace Lehman, Dr.

Harold Van Bosse and Dr.

Feldman. I am due July 4th- when would be a good time to start

contacting these

physicians and what are some questions we should be asking them?

I have a million more questions- I will start here though.

Thank you so much for all your great help.

Tara

[Guest guest]

Tara,

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I was in your shoes this time two

years ago. I was devastated and scared. Today, my husband and I

have a 21 month old son who runs around, climbs stairs and does

everything every other boy his age does. I also e-mailed Dr.

Ponsetti, and we drive from our home in New Jersey/Philadelphia area

to see Dr. Herzenberg in Baltimore.

When our son was born, his feet were really turned in, but I was glad

that I found out before he was born because I had time to prepare

mentally and to make sure that we had clothing items that would be

approriate (really the only thing he couldn't wear when he was moved

into the shoes and bar were clothing items with attached feet). In

our book, Dr. Ponsetti and Dr. Herzenberg are saints. We had

multiple ultrasounds and an amnio before our son was born,

and we knew that the clubfoot issue was the only major issue we were

faced with. In the grand scheme of things, it is nothing. It is

treatable without major surgery with the Ponsetti method, and it is

not a debilitating condition (at least not in this day and age in the

US). More importantly, it is NOT a life threatening condition. We

take for granted that we are going to have a baby and there won't be

any problems, but that isn't always the case. That was the biggest

thing I struggled with. Once I got information on his condition, I

was able to get past feeling like I did something wrong and being

angry that we had this happen to us, and was able to just focus on

loving my baby and finding him the best doctor possible. The casting

and 24/7 bar period can be challenging, but it goes by so

quickly. Our son sleeps with his bar at night, and it is just part

of his nightly routine. We are absolutely in awe of our son and how

amazing he is, and you will feel the same way about your son. We

barely think about what his feet looked like when he was born and we

have turned our trips to see the doctor (a 2 hour drive for us) into

an event we look forward to by planning fun events for the day. We

are also very athletic and we know he will be able to do everything

that we can do, and, hopefully, even more.

Good luck.

Jo Anne

>

>

> Hi there,

>

> Thankfully I have found this wonderful support group. I am 22 weeks

> pregnant with my first child and on

> Friday we had our second ultrasound confirming that our little boy

is

> going to be born

> with bilateral clubfeet. My husband and I are having a difficult

time

> accepting this

> diagnosis and we are still keeping hope that he will be born with

> normal feet. I know that

> is not realistic and I know that it is a very correctible problem. I

> guess I am just going

> through my sadness and anger stage. I am experiencing a lot of guilt

> wondering if this is

> something I did or didn't do. I can' t find any answers. My husband

> and I are extremely

> athletic and I am very scared that our little boy won't be able to

> participate in sports. I

> don't know the severity of his clubfeet- when we asked the

ultrasound

> dr. he said they

> looked pretty turned in. He also said he hasn't seen clubfoot for

two

> years. Is it possible to

> tell severity in the ultrasound?

>

> We were first told our baby may have clubfoot about two weeks ago

and

> in that time I have

> done a fair amount of research which has brought me to this group

and

> the Ponsetti

> Method. I

> am excited hearing the success stories and I am scared about what

> lies ahead. I emailed

> Dr. Ponsetti and he sent me back the names of four doctors in my

> area. I would love to

> hear any input or experience any of you may have had with these

docs.

> I have read many

> accounts here of Ponsetti doctors who have tweaked the method a

> little here and there,

> leading to unfavourable results. This worries me tremendously and I

> am wondering if we

> are better off going to Iowa and seeing Dr. Ponsetti himself. I live

> in NYC and the names

> that Dr. P. gave me are: Dr. Scher, Dr. Wallace Lehman, Dr.

> Harold Van Bosse and Dr.

> Feldman. I am due July 4th- when would be a good time to start

> contacting these

> physicians and what are some questions we should be asking them?

>

> I have a million more questions- I will start here though.

>

> Thank you so much for all your great help.

>

> Tara

[Guest guest]

Hello, Tara! Welcome to our board and congratulations on your baby

boy! Having an ultrasound diagnosis is truly a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it's great to know ahead of time so you can research

(kudos to you for doing this!) your treatment options and understand

what to expect. On the other hand, it adds a lot of unnecessary

stress and worry to your pregnancy! It is true that severity cannot

be diagnosed via ultrasound, but please try not to let this weigh on

your mind.

My firstborn was born with clubfoot also, but it wasn't caught on

any of our ultrasounds (in hindsight, I vividly remember that they

commented about how she had her foot pulled up like she was sitting

on it and couldn't get a good shot of it!). You can read 's

story if you want at our website:

http://ponseticlubfoot.freeservers.com/

Long story short- I blindly trusted the local orthopaedic surgeon

(who gave me no reason not to trust him and believe what he told me)

and wasted almost 4 months of time until I started researching (at

that time I was looking for support as we were facing the PMR

reconstructive surgery) and found out about the Ponseti method.

There are quite a few of us here with " older children " who are on

the " other side of treatment " . Our 4-6 year olds are quite normal,

they run, jump, ride their bikes, take ballet and gymnastics, and do

everything that other kids their age do. Rest assured that the odds

are in your son's favor that he will never know any limitations due

to his feet if he's treated by a competent physician from the start.

It's not too early to consult with the doctors that were recommended

to you. All of those doctors come highly recommended and most have

patients who are participants on this board. Find out if you have

any insurance limitations (i.e. which of those doctors accept your

insurance), interview the doctors, visit their facilities, and see

who you're most comfortable with.

If you research the archives on this board, you'll find lots of

posts about the NYC area doctors.

If you're more comfortable going to Iowa, I don't think there's one

person here who wouldn't tell you that it would be worth your time

and effort for peace of mind. It's probably not necessary unless

your child has a complicated case, but if you *want* to do it, go

for it! Many of us traveled quite far to see Dr. Ponseti, but

usually it was because of a lack of competent doctors in our area or

due to complications (or as a follow up in order to get another

opinion from the " master " himself).

Most of us understand your shock and your feelings of sadness. It's

quite normal to grieve for the " perfect child " - but you will

eventually work through these feelings and when your little boy is

born, you won't even notice those crooked feet because you won't be

able to take your eyes off his face! His feet won't be a shock to

you at birth, so at least you won't be dealing with that emotional

rollercoaster on top of the post-pregnancy hormones and exhaustion

(been there, done that). Sure, you'll probably still cry when his

first cast is applied (again, the hormones and exhaustion add to

your delicate emotional balance in the first few weeks)- but you can

use us as your sounding board if you need us.

I remember going through a few really hard days when all I could

think about was " Why my baby??? " , but eventually you will be able to

put it all into perspective- I promise. You can be assured that the

treatment won't hurt him, and that he won't remember any of it,

though Mom and Dad will remember *all* of it! Oh, and you didn't do

*anything* to cause this- most of us don't have a family history,

and I would venture to guess that most of us Clubfoot Mommies have

wracked our brains trying to figure out what illness we had,

chemical exposure, medicine we ingested etc. that could have

contributed to the formation of the baby's clubfoot.....all for

naught- it's not worth stressing out about because there is nothing

that the mom did!

It's been almost 5 years for me, and I remember all those casting

appointments like it was last month. knows she has a " special

foot " , but has no clue what she endured to get it fixed!

I hope this helps- try to enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!!!

Regards,

& (3-16-00), left clubfoot

switched to Ponseti method at 4 mo. old

[Guest guest]

Dear Tara, I think I will just echo everyone else here and say that I

was really scared, too, when the 20 week u/s showed bcf for our

little boy. However, we had the benefit of some knowledge since my

husband had BCF as a baby, too. I hope it will make you feel better

when I say that my husband grew to be 6 foot 6 and play four years of

college basketball. He also played football, volleyball, baseball

and soccer while growing up and excelled at all. What may make you

feel even better is that the treatment now is so much more advanced

33 years later. We know for a fact that my husband's treatment was

not as good as it could be, yet he still grew up to have a normal

childhood. To this day he remains the ultimate athlete, playing

ball 3 times a week. Our son is now 6 1/2 months old and his feet

look great. We have no doubt that he is going to have no problems in

the future (as long as the DBB use is continued as prescribed)

>

> Hi there,

>

> Thankfully I have found this wonderful support group. I am 22 weeks

> pregnant with my first child and on

> Friday we had our second ultrasound confirming that our little boy

is

> going to be born

> with bilateral clubfeet. My husband and I are having a difficult

time

> accepting this

> diagnosis and we are still keeping hope that he will be born with

> normal feet. I know that

> is not realistic and I know that it is a very correctible problem. I

> guess I am just going

> through my sadness and anger stage. I am experiencing a lot of guilt

> wondering if this is

> something I did or didn't do. I can' t find any answers. My husband

> and I are extremely

> athletic and I am very scared that our little boy won't be able to

> participate in sports. I

> don't know the severity of his clubfeet- when we asked the

ultrasound

> dr. he said they

> looked pretty turned in. He also said he hasn't seen clubfoot for

two

> years. Is it possible to

> tell severity in the ultrasound?

>

> We were first told our baby may have clubfoot about two weeks ago

and

> in that time I have

> done a fair amount of research which has brought me to this group

and

> the Ponsetti

> Method. I

> am excited hearing the success stories and I am scared about what

> lies ahead. I emailed

> Dr. Ponsetti and he sent me back the names of four doctors in my

> area. I would love to

> hear any input or experience any of you may have had with these

docs.

> I have read many

> accounts here of Ponsetti doctors who have tweaked the method a

> little here and there,

> leading to unfavourable results. This worries me tremendously and I

> am wondering if we

> are better off going to Iowa and seeing Dr. Ponsetti himself. I live

> in NYC and the names

> that Dr. P. gave me are: Dr. Scher, Dr. Wallace Lehman, Dr.

> Harold Van Bosse and Dr.

> Feldman. I am due July 4th- when would be a good time to start

> contacting these

> physicians and what are some questions we should be asking them?

>

> I have a million more questions- I will start here though.

>

> Thank you so much for all your great help.

>

> Tara

[Guest guest]

Hi, Tara!

I live in Queens and have just switched over to Dr. Feldman. He is really nice

and his nurse is also a sweetheart. I have heard great things about him, Scher

& Van Bosse. Lehman is also highly reccomended but he is pretty " up there " in

age, so you may want someone who will be around for future follow-ups & stuff.

Although, Dr. P himself is pretty " up there " and still going strong, God bless

him.

I had my baby in December and we had NO idea that he was going to be born with a

club foot. The hospital pediatric ortho casted him the day after he was born

and we were going to him up until 2 weeks ago. While he was a very qualified

and intelligent doctor, he wasn't necessarily doing the Ponseti method. Once I

came out of my post-pregnancy " fog " , I started doing research--and like, you,

came upon this group--and realized that Ponseti is the way to go. My son's foot

after 8 weeks of casts is how it could have looked after just 3 weeks of casts

had I started out with a Ponseti-trained doc. So, anyway, we decided to go for

a second opinion and Dr. Feldman came highly recommended to us from various

sources. While in the waiting room, we met another couple there. Their 6

week-old had bilateral clubfeet and was treated by Dr. F from the beginning and

had the tenotomy done last week and is doing well. The father of this baby is a

neurosurgeon and said he asked all his fellow

medical people and all fingers pointed to Dr. Feldman. So, that made me feel

better about our decision to stick with Dr. F and continue.

I TOTALLY know what you are feeling--except now I kind of wish that I HAD found

out about the clubfoot before my son's birth. That way I could have done the

research you are doing now. As a first-time parent, I have been soooooo

incredibly stressed and this just added to it. I have spent many many hours

crying and worrying, but then the little man looks up at me and smiles a big

gummy grin and coos and lifts his legs up in the air--cast and all--and I am

just thankful that he is healthy otherwise.

So, please enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and know that your baby will be

okay. Luckily, we live in an area with the resources where we don't have to

make the long drive to Baltimore to see Dr. Herzenberg or fly to Iowa to see Dr.

P. There are great Ponseti docs in NYC. But, of course if you would feel more

comfortable going to the " man " himself, then you should do what feels right.

Also, one thing I DIDN'T have the chance to do because of our unpreparedness was

take TONS of pictures of your baby's feet BEFORE casting. Make sure you hold

the feet and get to know them before they start the casting process. It all

happened so quickly for us that the only pics we have of 's clubfoot are the

ones my husband took right when he was born and placed in the heating thingy.

Anyway, I'm no expert on any of this. I'm just an editor and a new mom. But,

if you have any questions or just want to talk, feel free to e-mail me

personally at greekgddss@....

All my best,

taraknyc tkapoor@...> wrote:

Hi there,

Thankfully I have found this wonderful support group. I am 22 weeks

pregnant with my first child and on

Friday we had our second ultrasound confirming that our little boy is

going to be born

with bilateral clubfeet. My husband and I are having a difficult time

accepting this

diagnosis and we are still keeping hope that he will be born with

normal feet. I know that

is not realistic and I know that it is a very correctible problem. I

guess I am just going

through my sadness and anger stage. I am experiencing a lot of guilt

wondering if this is

something I did or didn't do. I can' t find any answers. My husband

and I are extremely

athletic and I am very scared that our little boy won't be able to

participate in sports. I

don't know the severity of his clubfeet- when we asked the ultrasound

dr. he said they

looked pretty turned in. He also said he hasn't seen clubfoot for two

years. Is it possible to

tell severity in the ultrasound?

We were first told our baby may have clubfoot about two weeks ago and

in that time I have

done a fair amount of research which has brought me to this group and

the Ponsetti

Method. I

am excited hearing the success stories and I am scared about what

lies ahead. I emailed

Dr. Ponsetti and he sent me back the names of four doctors in my

area. I would love to

hear any input or experience any of you may have had with these docs.

I have read many

accounts here of Ponsetti doctors who have tweaked the method a

little here and there,

leading to unfavourable results. This worries me tremendously and I

am wondering if we

are better off going to Iowa and seeing Dr. Ponsetti himself. I live

in NYC and the names

that Dr. P. gave me are: Dr. Scher, Dr. Wallace Lehman, Dr.

Harold Van Bosse and Dr.

Feldman. I am due July 4th- when would be a good time to start

contacting these

physicians and what are some questions we should be asking them?

I have a million more questions- I will start here though.

Thank you so much for all your great help.

Tara

[Guest guest]

Tara

I especially like a quote by Dr. Ponseti at his web site where he

says, " Parents of infants born with clubfeet may be reassured that

their baby, if otherwise normal, when treated by expert hands will

have normal looking feet with normal function for all practical

purposes. The well-treated clubfoot is no handicap and is fully

compatible with a normal, active life. "

http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/orthopaedics/clubfeet/parents.html

Many of us know of the doctors at NYU and you should have great

confidence in them. Dr. Lehman, Scher, Feldmand and Van Bosse. Here

is a web site of some parents who had gone to Dr. Lehman a couple of

years ago. It will help you meet Dr. Feldman and see the process of

the Ponseti method. I believe that it is the best parent

photographed and documented week by week site.

http://members.aol.com/vc11/

Here is some information on ultrasounds and when clubfoot

developes from different sources.

A number of parents on different internet groups have had their

childs clubfoot identified on a prenatal ultrasound.

In Dr. Ponseti's 1996 book on page 50, he says, " Present day

sonography applied to the study of fetal development in utero has

opened a new dimension in this field. Under sonography, we and

others ... have observed that an apparently normal foot of an 11-

week-

old fetus turns into a clubfoot at 14 weeks within a uterine cavity

filled with abundant amniotic fluid. The congenital clubfoot,

therefore, seems to be a developmental anomaly originating after the

third month of intrauterine life and not an embryonic malformation. "

Other information from Dr. Ponseti on when clubfoot begins to

develope can be seen in his 2001 article on treating relapses.

" The clubfoot in otherwise normal children is a developmental anomaly

originating after the third month of intrauterine life. It is induced

by an unknown dysfunction in the posterior and medial aspects of the

lower leg, ankle and foot ... "

" The period of dysfunction causing the deformity starting in the

middle third of pregnancy lasts to the third or fourth year of life.

In mild cases, it may start in late fetal life, and remain active for

only a few months after birth. In all cases, the resulting fibrosis

is most pronounced from a few weeks preceding birth, to a few months

after birth. This is the period when collagen accretion is greatest

in tendons and ligaments of normal mammals and presumably also of

man. The speed of growth of the foot decreases after the first year

of life, diminishing greatly after five years. "

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nosurgery4clubfoot/message/13223

At the 3rd International Congress on Clubfoot in San Diego last

August 2002, Dr. Henri Bensahel of Paris, France presented a study

they

had done on 5,000 ultrasounds since 1998. Their studies results said

that clubfoot by ultrasound " is easier (to identify) when the

investigation is made around the 20th week of pregnancy. By that

time, the talipes equinovarus can be well screened. The calf is less

developed than usual and the comparison is easier if the clubfoot is

unilateral. The diagnosis is also suspected by looking at the shape

of the foot and it's ability to move. However, the confirmation of

(it being a) true clubfoot is made (at) the time of the physical exam

at birth ... In our study, the prenatal diagnosis of clubfoot could

be made from the 12th week to the 34th week of pregnancy. "

" Thanks to the ultrasound investigation during pregnancy, we can

evaluate the type of deformity of the foot although we are not able

to (determine) the degree of severity. The severity is not related

to the time of the prenatal diagnosis. "

A poll on that ultrasound question at the Ponseti site had 22

responses with these results.

Diagnosed during 2nd trimester - 8 or 36%

Diagnosed during 3rd trimester - 0

Diagnosed after birth - 14 - 63%

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nosurgery4clubfoot/surveys?id=59565

At our own ultrasound, it was not brought up, but later the U of Iowa

doctors looked at our ultrasound snapshot picture and were able to

identify that the clubfoot was there and had been missed.

Clubfoot can be seen in ultrasounds, but it can't really be

determined for sure if it is a real clubfoot until after the baby is

born and is examined. Some children have what is called postional

clubfoot which may look like clubfoot on an ultrasound, but is

passively correctable and needs little or no treatment to be

resolved. " Real " clubfoot will need treatment to correct.

One study in London on 14 children published in the Journal of Bone

and Joint surgery in August 2000, indicated that 32% of their sample

really didn't have " true " clubfoot. They said " A total of 32% of

feet required no treatment and so could be considered functional

false-positive results on the scan. "

From Medline is this abstract of the Londond study, " Clinical outcome

of congenital talipes equinovarus diagnosed antenatally by

ultrasound. "

Tillett RL, Fisk NM, K, Hunt DM.

Department of Orthopaedics, St 's Hospital, London, England.

" Congenital talipes equinovarus is a common anomaly which can now be

diagnosed prenatally on a routine ultrasound scan at 20 weeks of

gestation. Prenatal counselling is increasingly offered to parents

with affected fetuses, but it is difficult to counsel parents if

there is a chance that the fetus may not have talipes. Our study

correlates the prenatal ultrasound findings of 14 infants diagnosed

as having unilateral or bilateral talipes during their routine 20-

week ultrasound scan with their clinical findings at birth and the

treatment received. No feet diagnosed as talipes on the ultrasound

scan were completely normal at birth and therefore there were no true

false-positive results. One foot graded as normal at 20 weeks was

found to have a mild grade-1 talipes at birth, but did not require

treatment other than simple stretches. A total of 32% of feet

required no treatment and so could be considered functional false-

positive results on the scan. Serial casting was required by 13% of

feet and surgical treatment by 55%. The severity of the talipes is

difficult to establish before birth. A number of patients are likely

to need surgical treatment, but a proportion will have talipes so

mildly that no treatment will be required. In counselling parents at

20 weeks, orthopaedic surgeons need to know whether or not there is a

small chance that the ultrasound diagnosis could be wrong and also

that the talipes may be so mild that the foot will not require

treatment. "

PMID: 10990315 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10990315

The following study indicated that for 103 children born with

clubfoot at an Australian hospital only 25% were picked up on

ultrasounds. The abstract does not say whether or not all of the 103

mothers had had ultrasounds or not.

J Pediatr Orthop 1999 Jan-Feb;19(1):11-3

Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of clubfoot.

Burgan HE, Furness ME, BK.

Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia.

Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of clubfoot is increasing. Of 103

patients with clubfoot diagnosed at birth, 26 (25.2%) positive

prenatal scans were identified with the earliest diagnosis being made

at 15 weeks. A questionnaire assessment indicated that 17 (65.4%)

deemed that the explanation of the baby's condition was clear. With

an increasing incidence of antenatal detection, it is suggested that

parents require adequate antenatal counseling by a specialist in the

area of clubfoot to improve the understanding of the natural history

and treatment of this condition.

PMID: 9890279 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

and (3-17-99)

http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/orthopaedics/clubfeet/egbert.html

>

>

> Hi there,

>

> Thankfully I have found this wonderful support group. I am 22 weeks

> pregnant with my first child and on

> Friday we had our second ultrasound confirming that our little boy

is

> going to be born

> with bilateral clubfeet. My husband and I are having a difficult

time

> accepting this

> diagnosis and we are still keeping hope that he will be born with

> normal feet. I know that

> is not realistic and I know that it is a very correctible problem. I

> guess I am just going

> through my sadness and anger stage. I am experiencing a lot of guilt

> wondering if this is

> something I did or didn't do. I can' t find any answers. My husband

> and I are extremely

> athletic and I am very scared that our little boy won't be able to

> participate in sports. I

> don't know the severity of his clubfeet- when we asked the

ultrasound

> dr. he said they

> looked pretty turned in. He also said he hasn't seen clubfoot for

two

> years. Is it possible to

> tell severity in the ultrasound?

>

> We were first told our baby may have clubfoot about two weeks ago

and

> in that time I have

> done a fair amount of research which has brought me to this group

and

> the Ponsetti

> Method. I

> am excited hearing the success stories and I am scared about what

> lies ahead. I emailed

> Dr. Ponsetti and he sent me back the names of four doctors in my

> area. I would love to

> hear any input or experience any of you may have had with these

docs.

> I have read many

> accounts here of Ponsetti doctors who have tweaked the method a

> little here and there,

> leading to unfavourable results. This worries me tremendously and I

> am wondering if we

> are better off going to Iowa and seeing Dr. Ponsetti himself. I live

> in NYC and the names

> that Dr. P. gave me are: Dr. Scher, Dr. Wallace Lehman, Dr.

> Harold Van Bosse and Dr.

> Feldman. I am due July 4th- when would be a good time to start

> contacting these

> physicians and what are some questions we should be asking them?

>

> I have a million more questions- I will start here though.

>

> Thank you so much for all your great help.

>

> Tara

[Guest guest]

Dear Tara and husband,

I guess I'd just like to agree with what everyone has told you on

this message board. I really couldn't think of anything worse that

had ever happened to me when I found out my baby was going to have a

clubfoot (via ultrasound as well.) And worse, it wasn't happening to

me really, but my baby. I checked out every child's legs and feet

everywhere I went for the rest of my pregnancy. Then I'd go to my

car, or home, or where ever and cry. Now my baby is a year and a

half old and you would never know she was born with a clubfoot. Her

foot looks completely normal! Just follow what you read on this site

and come here for answers to your questions. Like someone else

wrote, my baby wears the shoes with the bar at night and nap time,

and she doesn't care one drop. I take comfort in knowing that she'll

never even know, aside from pictures and what we tell her. Do take

pictures. I made no effort to do this and wish I had. Now I pull

out the few I have and show them with pride and amazment. Not to say

it hasn't been hard at times, but it hasn't been as bad as I ever

expected. Good luck and know that you are not alone. Pedroza---

In nosurgery4clubfoot , " taraknyc "

wrote:

>

>

> Hi there,

>

> Thankfully I have found this wonderful support group. I am 22 weeks

> pregnant with my first child and on

> Friday we had our second ultrasound confirming that our little boy

is

> going to be born

> with bilateral clubfeet. My husband and I are having a difficult

time

> accepting this

> diagnosis and we are still keeping hope that he will be born with

> normal feet. I know that

> is not realistic and I know that it is a very correctible problem. I

> guess I am just going

> through my sadness and anger stage. I am experiencing a lot of guilt

> wondering if this is

> something I did or didn't do. I can' t find any answers. My husband

> and I are extremely

> athletic and I am very scared that our little boy won't be able to

> participate in sports. I

> don't know the severity of his clubfeet- when we asked the

ultrasound

> dr. he said they

> looked pretty turned in. He also said he hasn't seen clubfoot for

two

> years. Is it possible to

> tell severity in the ultrasound?

>

> We were first told our baby may have clubfoot about two weeks ago

and

> in that time I have

> done a fair amount of research which has brought me to this group

and

> the Ponsetti

> Method. I

> am excited hearing the success stories and I am scared about what

> lies ahead. I emailed

> Dr. Ponsetti and he sent me back the names of four doctors in my

> area. I would love to

> hear any input or experience any of you may have had with these

docs.

> I have read many

> accounts here of Ponsetti doctors who have tweaked the method a

> little here and there,

> leading to unfavourable results. This worries me tremendously and I

> am wondering if we

> are better off going to Iowa and seeing Dr. Ponsetti himself. I live

> in NYC and the names

> that Dr. P. gave me are: Dr. Scher, Dr. Wallace Lehman, Dr.

> Harold Van Bosse and Dr.

> Feldman. I am due July 4th- when would be a good time to start

> contacting these

> physicians and what are some questions we should be asking them?

>

> I have a million more questions- I will start here though.

>

> Thank you so much for all your great help.

>

> Tara

[Guest guest]

As I just sat here and read all of these replies to you, I myself

coudn't believe how my feelings & emotions were identical to the

others during my pregnancy and after. I too have a 21 month old son

and his feet are perfect now! Although it is so scary right now to

you, trust me when I say that the there truly is no reason to be

worried. Your son will have perfect feet once he's treated. I did

want to tell you though that we see Dr. Scher and he is fabulous.

Good luck with making your decision. You're lucky you live in NYC

and have so many choices. (We live 3 hours away but is still worth

it to come to NYC for awesome medical care) Good luck.

>

>

> Hi there,

>

> Thankfully I have found this wonderful support group. I am 22 weeks

> pregnant with my first child and on

> Friday we had our second ultrasound confirming that our little boy

is

> going to be born

> with bilateral clubfeet. My husband and I are having a difficult

time

> accepting this

> diagnosis and we are still keeping hope that he will be born with

> normal feet. I know that

> is not realistic and I know that it is a very correctible problem.

I

> guess I am just going

> through my sadness and anger stage. I am experiencing a lot of

guilt

> wondering if this is

> something I did or didn't do. I can' t find any answers. My husband

> and I are extremely

> athletic and I am very scared that our little boy won't be able to

> participate in sports. I

> don't know the severity of his clubfeet- when we asked the

ultrasound

> dr. he said they

> looked pretty turned in. He also said he hasn't seen clubfoot for

two

> years. Is it possible to

> tell severity in the ultrasound?

>

> We were first told our baby may have clubfoot about two weeks ago

and

> in that time I have

> done a fair amount of research which has brought me to this group

and

> the Ponsetti

> Method. I

> am excited hearing the success stories and I am scared about what

> lies ahead. I emailed

> Dr. Ponsetti and he sent me back the names of four doctors in my

> area. I would love to

> hear any input or experience any of you may have had with these

docs.

> I have read many

> accounts here of Ponsetti doctors who have tweaked the method a

> little here and there,

> leading to unfavourable results. This worries me tremendously and I

> am wondering if we

> are better off going to Iowa and seeing Dr. Ponsetti himself. I

live

> in NYC and the names

> that Dr. P. gave me are: Dr. Scher, Dr. Wallace Lehman, Dr.

> Harold Van Bosse and Dr.

> Feldman. I am due July 4th- when would be a good time to

start

> contacting these

> physicians and what are some questions we should be asking them?

>

> I have a million more questions- I will start here though.

>

> Thank you so much for all your great help.

>

> Tara