Darbi got her P/M's yesterday!

June 12, 2003

Is it because the shoes are new and the leather is stiff??

I had company last night, so wasn't able to post but they called yesterday

morning and we picked her shoes up in the afternoon. She didn't like the

socks they made and absolutely hated the shoes from the get go lol! She

was cranky and tired and in a mood all evening. When I put them on her at

8:30, she actually told me " I don't want these shoes " and pushed them

away. I asked her if she wanted her old shoes and she said yes. I told

her no, and put them on anyway. She fell asleep while I was buckling them

up! Slept about as well as she always does...

But this morning when I was away taking Kento to school she started crying

and saying ow and daddy took them off. I asked her where it hurt and she

pointed to the top of her foot where the tongue thingie lies. I noticed

that it doesn't exactly lie flat on her foot. And, it seems that it's

coming from the wrong side for cinching, as it folds over from the same

side you're cinching it towards. Which tends to bunch it up if you don't

adjust it. That's strange if you ask me... So I had her wear them for

nap today, and left again to go get Kenton. When she woke she was cranky

and pointed to her shoes and said ow. Daddy again took them off. She's in

bed now...

***********************************************************

OK- since I wrote that last night but didn't send, all the above doesn't

refer to yesterday lol... it's referring to the day before of course. And

she slept fine last night and even wore her shoes for the full time this

morning. BUT... I also reduced the abduction 10 degrees because there's

something wrong with the screw hole for the 70 degree setting (the screw

won't go in all the way) and I thought I remembered something said here

before about the P/M's being set at a lesser degree because of their

design. So, I used the other screw hole that works properly thinking

perhaps it was abducted too much. However... when I compared them to her

Markell's this morning I saw that I was wrong, and 60 degrees was not

enough. So I set them back with the bum screw and am going to have to

grind the screw off a bit so it seats properly. I asked DH if it could be

tapped and he said he didn't want to mess it up and it would need a

different kind of tap (one that is not tapered at the tip) than the ones we

have because the part that needs tapping is so deep in the

socket. Squashed that idea... Anyone else ever have this kind of problem?

So far, I have a few comments and questions about this brace.

1- Is it just our pair or all of these coming out with straps that are too

wide for the buckles? I swear, I spend way more time putting these on than

the Markell's and it's not easy with the straps being too wide. They don't

go in easily... but then again they don't come off easily either. Which

is good for Darbs because she can't get them off like she does the

Markells... but it also takes me a long time to get them off too because I

can't hardly get under the straps to get them loosened from the

buckles. Thoughts?? Should I trim them? With what?

2- There seems to be a LOT of room in the toe box. Which is GREAT! But

being that there's something like 1/4 " room on both sides of her toes to

the edges of the shoe, I wonder if it might allow too much movement in that

area. I was wondering if all these shoes came out like that or if mine

were made extra wide because of our problem with the toes being

squashed. As a side note, I'm just thrilled with the room in there and now

when I put her shoes on her toes sit flat instead of one lifting up and on

top of the others.

3- Even though the screws are tight, there's still some slop in the

shoes. Just a little bit. Do others have this issue too?

4- I know what that part is that qualifies them for AFO's!!!! It's the

inside rubbery thing that used to be yellow. It used to just be a molded

thing that served as an insole that wraps the foot a bit inside the

leather. NOW... it's white and the heel portion is extended well over the

top of the heel area of leather and sticks up about an inch and a half over

the leather. It looks like an AFO in this respect. It serves absolutely

no purpose that I can see because it's all floppy soft rubbery stuff. But

I'm pretty sure this is what he added to get them covered as AFO's. I will

take a picture of them and post to the CFPics list as soon as I get a

chance to for y'all to take a peek at.

5- (back to complaining/critiquing/wondering) - The little tongue

thingie... Why on earth is it attached to the side you cinch on

anyway? What a PITA to get it straight! If it pulled from the side the

straps are sewn to, that would make a whole lot more sense to me. Does no

one else have problems getting it flat because I've never heard anyone say

this was difficult yet.

oops... sorry, I just read up and see that I already mentioned

this. Well, it's irritating so I'm leaving it in twice to make sure it

gets noticed - love to hear any comments. I can see that I will never

understand that logic and will probably be taking that to to ask

why. I wonder if he just made them so fast that something got switched

around on our pair?

6- the soles are smooth on these now. I remembered some moms saying they

were ridged or had some kind of imprint on them before that was painful to

the parent. So that's all smooth now, in case anyone was wondering.

7- they're dorsiflexed, but not very much. Certainly nowhere near as much

as any of her other pairs have been. I have never measured the

dorsiflexion they bend into her bars, I always just assumed it was 10-15

degrees like it's supposed to be. Anyone know what degree these are

dorsiflexed to from the factory and if perhaps they may need to be bent a

little more? She has fantastic dorsiflexion in her clubfoot, more than her

non CF actually. I don't want to compromise this by using a lesser

dorsiflexed brace over her last year of splinting if it may change

this. Any thoughts on this are also very welcome.

I sure hope Kai's shoes are on the way, because I really didn't want to get

ours before he got his. I feel bad now, because ours is a lesser need and

they came very, very soon if you ask me. Something like 3-4w from when she

was fitted.

Interestingly enough, the instructions indicated that they should be set

heel to heel. So that's how they were set at the brace shop and I was I

suppose vindicated some on that one issue. Rob jokingly called me a

psychotic mom or something like that - and I mentioned that I'm doing this

so I don't have to come back, which he then said they don't want me to have

to come back either lol (joking, but kinda serious... I *got* the

undertones even though we were both joking and laughing about

it). Obviously in reference to the incident where I had to insist over and

over again that her brace was too short and that woman kept telling me it

was fine until I blew up and asked pretty nasty like " Why do I have to

argue about this with you? " and got frustrated and almost just left. I

told him I was the thorn in their side and would continue to be as long as

I was able to help babies have straight feet without surgery. So

there!!! Oh, and this brace is even wider than the ones they

adjusted/modified for me about 3w ago. Hummmm....

They did like the shoes though, and I told them about how the babes newly

out of casts who use that brace likely will not look as if the heels are

down all the way in the back. But after a few months, the heel will form

and it will come down. I thought they might want to know that. Also,

about the shoes ability to help correct cavus with that middle strap. So

at least they know that.

I do not know if Dr. Sussman got to look at them before they gave them to

us. I sure hope he did.

I couldn't get much help on toe splinting because the Dr. hasn't ordered

it, but we have an appointment with Dr. Sussman on the 17th of July so I

may wait till then and ask him to write some orders for the brace shop to

help me with splinting materials. I may write him sooner about it... have

to think about what is the best thing to do at this time and decide later I

guess.

All in all, I'm glad we have them and I hope they last till she's done with

her splinting phase in a year or so. I really like that they have such a

flat bottom and she can finally stand without wobbling. I don't have a pad

on the bar, but it doesn't seem like it's going to damage the floors since

the metal doesn't touch. I am hoping to be able to report here soon that

she is able to walk in them unaided soon because as far as I know, she's

the oldest child who has a pair of these and will be at the age where

she'll be able to do that soon. She's been walking forever by now and I

think she *can* walk in them unaided because they're so flat. I love that!

Thanks for reading if you got this far and for any comments or suggestions

for applying them that anyone has. So far, it seems that you need to do it

exactly opposite from what you do with the Markells because of that tongue

thing bunching up. I have to point her feet a bit (as opposed to

dorsiflexing) to get it all flat and *then* buckle the middle strap. Is

this right? Any and all pointers are welcome.

Kori

2yo Darbi's mama

Ponseti FAB 12-14hr/d

June 12, 2003