RE: New to this:keeping heel down

February 11, 2005

Hi ,

Welcome! Congrats for getting to the shoe stage! Glad to hear it's going

well for you! I hadn't found this list yet when we went through it, so had

no idea what to expect or if what she was doing was related to adjusting to

the shoes or because we took our first train trip to grandmas when she got

her last cast off and went into the shoes!

If the shoe is staying on, you're lucky! My daughter's clubfoot shoe came

off at least a dozen times a day! Until I found this list, I didn't know

that the heel isn't formed, it's " empty " which is one reason it won't stay

down in the shoe (can also indicate the foot isn't fully corrected, but not

in our case). The shoe helps the heel to form properly, but it takes time.

After awhile, I noticed the shoes weren't coming off as much and then not at

all, then I found this list and learned why!

I guess I could've tried harder to make sure that it was tight. The 0000

shoe size wasn't available when we started, but my daughter was older (3

months) when she got the 000, but her feet have been on the small side.

Hope this helps!

Best, Joanne W. mom to Zoe, 3-25-01, right clubfoot

Message: 21

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 17:21:10 -0000

Subject: New to this

I have read a bunch of this. It is great to get some answers to

questions. My fifth child was born with a right club foot. Since we

live in rural area our initial treatment wasn't ideal, of course we

didn't know that. Out orthopedic used half leg casts. After about

four months he said that the foot needed surgery and he sent us to

Dr. Showalter in Boise, Idaho (luckily we are only three hours from

Boise). That was a blessing. Dr. Showalter is Ponseti certified and

basically started the casting over. The results are better than can

be expected. I think that not enough orthopedics and pediatricans

know about the Ponsetti method. We trusted what our orthopedic said,

and he said we didn't have a club foot, just a positionally misplaced

foot.

We are now in the DBB. Have been for three days now. Tenny seems to

be adjusting well. We were told that he would be awful. But he has

never been a good baby so this is normal. He isn't much worse than

usual. One thing we noticed about switiching to the Ponseti method.

Tenny used to cry and fuss for hours. When Dr. Showalter started

casting his foot he was a completely different baby. Much less

fussing and even many smiles. It is wonderful.

I do have a question about socks. Our orthotist said socks with no

extra padding. We have a thin sock on Tenny right now. Only problem

we are having is keeping his heel down. His toes keep sliding back

and the heel up the shoe. Does a sock with grippers help keep the

foot from sliding as much. We can only tighten the strap so tight

and it seems to slip a bit even then. So what sock is the best?

Or am I even doing this right?

Your advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Grush

Mother of Summmer, Tristan, Taylen, Teegan, and Tenny rt cf DBB 23/7

February 12, 2005

,

Were you able to open the Word file?

They're great little feet aren't they? :~}

Kori

At 02:36 PM 2/12/2005, you wrote:

>Joanne,

> Thanks for responding. All of this information helps. Now that a

> couple of days have passed I seem to be gaining a bit of confidence. The

> swelling from his last cast has gone down a bunch and now there is a

> FOOT. So cool. Thanks again

> mom of Tenny rt. cf and the rest of the gang.

> New to this

>

> I have read a bunch of this. It is great to get some answers to

> questions. My fifth child was born with a right club foot. Since we

> live in rural area our initial treatment wasn't ideal, of course we

> didn't know that. Out orthopedic used half leg casts. After about

> four months he said that the foot needed surgery and he sent us to

> Dr. Showalter in Boise, Idaho (luckily we are only three hours from

> Boise). That was a blessing. Dr. Showalter is Ponseti certified and

> basically started the casting over. The results are better than can

> be expected. I think that not enough orthopedics and pediatricans

> know about the Ponsetti method. We trusted what our orthopedic said,

> and he said we didn't have a club foot, just a positionally misplaced

> foot.

> We are now in the DBB. Have been for three days now. Tenny seems to

> be adjusting well. We were told that he would be awful. But he has

> never been a good baby so this is normal. He isn't much worse than

> usual. One thing we noticed about switiching to the Ponseti method.

> Tenny used to cry and fuss for hours. When Dr. Showalter started

> casting his foot he was a completely different baby. Much less

> fussing and even many smiles. It is wonderful.

> I do have a question about socks. Our orthotist said socks with no

> extra padding. We have a thin sock on Tenny right now. Only problem

> we are having is keeping his heel down. His toes keep sliding back

> and the heel up the shoe. Does a sock with grippers help keep the

> foot from sliding as much. We can only tighten the strap so tight

> and it seems to slip a bit even then. So what sock is the best?

> Or am I even doing this right?

> Your advice would be appreciated.

> Thanks, Grush

> Mother of Summmer, Tristan, Taylen, Teegan, and Tenny rt cf DBB 23/7

>

February 12, 2005

Joanne,

Thanks for responding. All of this information helps. Now that a couple of

days have passed I seem to be gaining a bit of confidence. The swelling from

his last cast has gone down a bunch and now there is a FOOT. So cool. Thanks

again

mom of Tenny rt. cf and the rest of the gang.

New to this