Guest guest Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Hi, I've just joined this group to hopefully gain support as my husband and I begin our clubfoot correction journey with our daughter. I am 25 weeks pregnant with our second child who will be born with a unilateral clubfoot (on the right side). We plan to spend the next several weeks researching our treatment options. So far, the Ponseti method seems most promising to me. Fortunatley, there is a doctor who performs this technique that has just established a practice in our area. However, I would like to hear feedback from other experienced parents about the pros and cons of this method, and any other treatment techniques you have experienced. Thanks for your help with this. Amye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Hi, I've just joined this group to hopefully gain support as my husband and I begin our clubfoot correction journey with our daughter. I am 25 weeks pregnant with our second child who will be born with a unilateral clubfoot (on the right side). We plan to spend the next several weeks researching our treatment options. So far, the Ponseti method seems most promising to me. Fortunatley, there is a doctor who performs this technique that has just established a practice in our area. However, I would like to hear feedback from other experienced parents about the pros and cons of this method, and any other treatment techniques you have experienced. Thanks for your help with this. Amye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2005 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Hi Ayme, Welcome to the group! I suppose that casting and braces could be considered cons of the Ponseti method, but you'll have to deal with those no matter what treatment route you go. Other than that, I cannot honestly think of any other cons. The big pro for us is that we now have a 3.5 year old little girl that is completely normal in all respects and will not have to deal with early onset arthritis or unexplained foot pain later in life. She has had no surgical correction and it is very difficult to tell which foot was even the clubfoot. Another big pro is that when the method is used by a qualified physician the casting phase is very short. It typically takes 5-7 weeks of casts to have a completely corrected foot. You then move on to the bracing phase of the method. The brace is worn 23 hours a day for the first three months which seems like a lot, but goes by very quickly. We didn't know about Livie's clubfoot until she was born, so you have a jump start on us, but I remember posing the same question to this group when Livie was born. Everything that I read about the Ponseti method just seemed to good to be true. I kept thinking that there had to be something that I wasn't seeing or else why wouldn't all doctors be using this method? Fortunately everything I read about the method was true and Livie has a beautiful foot now. Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out why all doctors aren't using this method or why some doctors insist on " tweaking " the method and getting miserable results. Good luck on the birth of your daughter and I look forward to hearing about her progress!! Jen & Livie (10-18-01 severe left clubfoot) Treatment Options Hi, I've just joined this group to hopefully gain support as my husband and I begin our clubfoot correction journey with our daughter. I am 25 weeks pregnant with our second child who will be born with a unilateral clubfoot (on the right side). We plan to spend the next several weeks researching our treatment options. So far, the Ponseti method seems most promising to me. Fortunatley, there is a doctor who performs this technique that has just established a practice in our area. However, I would like to hear feedback from other experienced parents about the pros and cons of this method, and any other treatment techniques you have experienced. Thanks for your help with this. Amye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2005 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Hi Ayme, Welcome to the group! I suppose that casting and braces could be considered cons of the Ponseti method, but you'll have to deal with those no matter what treatment route you go. Other than that, I cannot honestly think of any other cons. The big pro for us is that we now have a 3.5 year old little girl that is completely normal in all respects and will not have to deal with early onset arthritis or unexplained foot pain later in life. She has had no surgical correction and it is very difficult to tell which foot was even the clubfoot. Another big pro is that when the method is used by a qualified physician the casting phase is very short. It typically takes 5-7 weeks of casts to have a completely corrected foot. You then move on to the bracing phase of the method. The brace is worn 23 hours a day for the first three months which seems like a lot, but goes by very quickly. We didn't know about Livie's clubfoot until she was born, so you have a jump start on us, but I remember posing the same question to this group when Livie was born. Everything that I read about the Ponseti method just seemed to good to be true. I kept thinking that there had to be something that I wasn't seeing or else why wouldn't all doctors be using this method? Fortunately everything I read about the method was true and Livie has a beautiful foot now. Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out why all doctors aren't using this method or why some doctors insist on " tweaking " the method and getting miserable results. Good luck on the birth of your daughter and I look forward to hearing about her progress!! Jen & Livie (10-18-01 severe left clubfoot) Treatment Options Hi, I've just joined this group to hopefully gain support as my husband and I begin our clubfoot correction journey with our daughter. I am 25 weeks pregnant with our second child who will be born with a unilateral clubfoot (on the right side). We plan to spend the next several weeks researching our treatment options. So far, the Ponseti method seems most promising to me. Fortunatley, there is a doctor who performs this technique that has just established a practice in our area. However, I would like to hear feedback from other experienced parents about the pros and cons of this method, and any other treatment techniques you have experienced. Thanks for your help with this. Amye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Helly Amye, Congratulations on your pregnancy! I will tell you a bit about our story, so you can get an idea of what to expect with the Ponseti Method. We have had a wonderful experience and our daugther, Zoe, is 15 months old now, only wears the bar at night and runs around like she owns the place. Here is our story. Clubfeet are very fixable! Our daughter, Zoe, was born February 22nd with a right clubfoot. We had no idea, so you are ahead of the game in that respect. We took her to a pediatric orthopaedist when she was 8 days old. The good news for us is that they practice the Ponseti Method of clubfoot treatment. This is a nonsurgical approach to treating clubfeet. Most, but not all, children can be treated with this method. They put a cast (to midthigh) on her that day. It is bent at the knee. She had a new cast put on every week for 5 weeks. With each cast the foot was rotated out further. She had a tenotomy done on April 8th when she was 6 weeks old. This is procedure where they release the achilles tendon, so the heel can drop down and they can have dorsiflexion in their feet (where the foot flexes up). Clubfoot children have short tendons, but some do not need the tenotomy. Our doctor did this in the operating room, but some doctors do it in their office with a local anesthetic. (HINT: if your dr. does this in the o.r. ask for as early of an appt as you can. The kids can't have fluids, etc. for a few hours before, so it is better to get it done first thing) Zoe could be fed for 4 hours before the procedure at 8am, so I got her up at about 3:30, fed her until 4am, and kept everything very quiet all morning. She stayed asleep the whole time, even while being weighed in at the hospital. We had to be at the hospital at 6am. The procedure took all of 20 mins and she was away from me for a total of 55 minutes. We were out of there by 11am. They kept her 2 hours post op to observe because of the anethesia. After the tenotomy they put her in a cast for 3 weeks while the tendon healed. When the cast was removed she was fitted for the foot abduction brace (FAB). It is two shoes with a bar fixed onto them. They are angled outward to keep the correction of the foot. She wore it 23 hours/day for three months (until she turned 5 months). It took her a couple of days to adjust to moving her legs simultaneously, but after that she was just fine. She now wears it 12-13 hours/day. She developed a small blister on the third day of wearing it. The blister was actually on her nonclubfoot and was caused because I was not doing her shoes up tight enough. It may seem daunting, but it really is very manageable. I will tell you now that I regret not having more photos of her foot before all of the correction. If you would like to look at Dr. Ponseti's website here is the link. http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/orthopaedics/clubfeet/index.html There is a list of doctors who practice this method. Ask questions when you have them! Enjoy being pregnant! Try not to worry, we are here for you. Louisa Rachael 6-27-99 Zoe 2-22-04 Right Unilateral Clubfoot FAB 12/7 > Hi, > > I've just joined this group to hopefully gain support as my husband and > I begin our clubfoot correction journey with our daughter. I am 25 > weeks pregnant with our second child who will be born with a unilateral > clubfoot (on the right side). We plan to spend the next several weeks > researching our treatment options. So far, the Ponseti method seems > most promising to me. Fortunatley, there is a doctor who performs this > technique that has just established a practice in our area. However, I > would like to hear feedback from other experienced parents about the > pros and cons of this method, and any other treatment techniques you > have experienced. Thanks for your help with this. > > Amye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Helly Amye, Congratulations on your pregnancy! I will tell you a bit about our story, so you can get an idea of what to expect with the Ponseti Method. We have had a wonderful experience and our daugther, Zoe, is 15 months old now, only wears the bar at night and runs around like she owns the place. Here is our story. Clubfeet are very fixable! Our daughter, Zoe, was born February 22nd with a right clubfoot. We had no idea, so you are ahead of the game in that respect. We took her to a pediatric orthopaedist when she was 8 days old. The good news for us is that they practice the Ponseti Method of clubfoot treatment. This is a nonsurgical approach to treating clubfeet. Most, but not all, children can be treated with this method. They put a cast (to midthigh) on her that day. It is bent at the knee. She had a new cast put on every week for 5 weeks. With each cast the foot was rotated out further. She had a tenotomy done on April 8th when she was 6 weeks old. This is procedure where they release the achilles tendon, so the heel can drop down and they can have dorsiflexion in their feet (where the foot flexes up). Clubfoot children have short tendons, but some do not need the tenotomy. Our doctor did this in the operating room, but some doctors do it in their office with a local anesthetic. (HINT: if your dr. does this in the o.r. ask for as early of an appt as you can. The kids can't have fluids, etc. for a few hours before, so it is better to get it done first thing) Zoe could be fed for 4 hours before the procedure at 8am, so I got her up at about 3:30, fed her until 4am, and kept everything very quiet all morning. She stayed asleep the whole time, even while being weighed in at the hospital. We had to be at the hospital at 6am. The procedure took all of 20 mins and she was away from me for a total of 55 minutes. We were out of there by 11am. They kept her 2 hours post op to observe because of the anethesia. After the tenotomy they put her in a cast for 3 weeks while the tendon healed. When the cast was removed she was fitted for the foot abduction brace (FAB). It is two shoes with a bar fixed onto them. They are angled outward to keep the correction of the foot. She wore it 23 hours/day for three months (until she turned 5 months). It took her a couple of days to adjust to moving her legs simultaneously, but after that she was just fine. She now wears it 12-13 hours/day. She developed a small blister on the third day of wearing it. The blister was actually on her nonclubfoot and was caused because I was not doing her shoes up tight enough. It may seem daunting, but it really is very manageable. I will tell you now that I regret not having more photos of her foot before all of the correction. If you would like to look at Dr. Ponseti's website here is the link. http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/orthopaedics/clubfeet/index.html There is a list of doctors who practice this method. Ask questions when you have them! Enjoy being pregnant! Try not to worry, we are here for you. Louisa Rachael 6-27-99 Zoe 2-22-04 Right Unilateral Clubfoot FAB 12/7 > Hi, > > I've just joined this group to hopefully gain support as my husband and > I begin our clubfoot correction journey with our daughter. I am 25 > weeks pregnant with our second child who will be born with a unilateral > clubfoot (on the right side). We plan to spend the next several weeks > researching our treatment options. So far, the Ponseti method seems > most promising to me. Fortunatley, there is a doctor who performs this > technique that has just established a practice in our area. However, I > would like to hear feedback from other experienced parents about the > pros and cons of this method, and any other treatment techniques you > have experienced. Thanks for your help with this. > > Amye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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