Re: Reintroduction: Raphael's first cast

September 23, 2005

Glad to hear things are going so well for your little man! The tech,

by the way, is Sam, and he is awesome! He gave Kai cotton wrap last

time we were there, because Kai wanted so badly to help put the cast

on!

We met the young man training with Dr Mosca, too. He seemed very

nice and very interested in everything that was going on. I have

heard that it is relatively easy to learn the manipulation process,

so hopefully he will do great for you. By the same token, I really

hope Kai doesnt end up scheduled with him (Kai's manipulation is

different than average) ... but I dont think Dr Mosca would do that

to us lol

I am thinking I was taking time away from the group durring your

first postings. Where are you located? We live just outside Yakima

and have been travelling to see Dr Mosca for almost 3 years now (wow,

I cant believe that!) He is a good doc ... but you have to watch him

when it comes time to reduce hours from 23/7. He will most likely

tell you to go directly to 12 hours ... DONT DO IT! Everyone here

will be happy to help you thru that time period ... and we have all

found that it is far better to do the transition as Dr Ponseti

describes rather than to drop straight down to 12 hours

Angel

> Hi folks,

>

> I posted here a few months ago when Raphael (born 9/12/05) was

> diagonsed in utero with unilateral cf, and Joybelle pointed me to

> this group! I haven't been able to keep up in the meantime, but

> will try to do so now. Great information here, but I wish that

> Yahoo! had a better UI for their groups.

>

> We had our first appointment with Dr. Mosca on 9/21/05, after

> cancelling the one we had scheduled for 9/9 since Raphael

> hadn't decided to make an appearance yet! I'm glad that we

> had those 9 days pre-cast to settle in with Raphael and cuddle

> his cute little foot. We took a lot of pictures of it the morning

> his cast was going on.

>

> Dr. Mosca classified Rafe's case as " moderate " when we asked him.

> The pediatricians who looked at it before said it has pretty good

> flexibility. Lucky for us, Rafe is a very mellow baby, and hasn't

> seemed too bothered by the cast. He's already a good sleeper,

> and the pattern hasn't changed since the cast. I wonder how we'll

> know if he's developing any pressure sores, though. I try to keep

> his leg elevated, but can't all the time...

>

> The technician who did the wrapping on the cast (while Dr. Mosca

held

> his foot in the right position) suggested we use some toddler socks

> with the toes cut off to create a sleeve at the top of the cast to

> keep it clean in case of diaper leaks. This seems to be working

so

> far for us (and good thing we have lots of toddler socks around

> from our older child). Any other tips on keeping the cast clean?

>

> The week that Raphael should be getting his third cast, Dr. Mosca is

> going to be out of town, so we're going to be seen by a fellow who

> is training with Dr. Mosca (a young Dr. from New Zealand). I hope

> that his technique is up to snuff. It's just one cast, though, and

> the next week we'll see Dr. Mosca again.

>

> Thanks,

>

> --

> Toby 5/02

> Raphael lcf 9/05, first cast

September 23, 2005

Sam is absolutely amazing --- he's got lightning fingers!

We're in Seattle, actually, north end even, making it very easy to

get over to Dr. Mosca.

Thanks for the tip about the brace hours. I'll ask him about it,

when the time comes, but really, I think the person to convince

will be my husband. It's not like the Dr. can keep us from doing

more hours with the brace...

> > Hi folks,

> >

> > I posted here a few months ago when Raphael (born 9/12/05) was

> > diagonsed in utero with unilateral cf, and Joybelle pointed me to

> > this group! I haven't been able to keep up in the meantime, but

> > will try to do so now. Great information here, but I wish that

> > Yahoo! had a better UI for their groups.

> >

> > We had our first appointment with Dr. Mosca on 9/21/05, after

> > cancelling the one we had scheduled for 9/9 since Raphael

> > hadn't decided to make an appearance yet! I'm glad that we

> > had those 9 days pre-cast to settle in with Raphael and cuddle

> > his cute little foot. We took a lot of pictures of it the morning

> > his cast was going on.

> >

> > Dr. Mosca classified Rafe's case as " moderate " when we asked him.

> > The pediatricians who looked at it before said it has pretty good

> > flexibility. Lucky for us, Rafe is a very mellow baby, and hasn't

> > seemed too bothered by the cast. He's already a good sleeper,

> > and the pattern hasn't changed since the cast. I wonder how we'll

> > know if he's developing any pressure sores, though. I try to keep

> > his leg elevated, but can't all the time...

> >

> > The technician who did the wrapping on the cast (while Dr. Mosca

> held

> > his foot in the right position) suggested we use some toddler socks

> > with the toes cut off to create a sleeve at the top of the cast to

> > keep it clean in case of diaper leaks. This seems to be working

> so

> > far for us (and good thing we have lots of toddler socks around

> > from our older child). Any other tips on keeping the cast clean?

> >

> > The week that Raphael should be getting his third cast, Dr. Mosca is

> > going to be out of town, so we're going to be seen by a fellow who

> > is training with Dr. Mosca (a young Dr. from New Zealand). I hope

> > that his technique is up to snuff. It's just one cast, though, and

> > the next week we'll see Dr. Mosca again.

> >

> > Thanks,

> >

> > --

> > Toby 5/02

> > Raphael lcf 9/05, first cast

September 23, 2005

You guys are lucky it is so close! My brother lives in Monroe, so we

at least have somewhere to stay if we dont want to do a one-day run

over and back, but it IS costly going over there so often! lol

We can give you information to convince your husband. Even if he isnt

convinced by the fact that the man who invented the method advises to

do it the long way, he could very well be convinced by the fact that

alot of babies do not sleep well and end up really crabby if you do a

sudden drop in hours. We have NO CLUE what the deal is, but it happens

all the time, and the parents end up having to go back and start at the

top. Besides that ... at the 4 - 5 month mark, babies really arent

doing so much that a few extra hours in the brace will affect. I cant

remember right off the whole to-do, but it is basically a gradual

stepping down from the 23/7 ... which really makes total sense when you

think about it. The basic goal is to keep the hours in the higher

range until the baby is active enough on their feet (standing, cruising

and such) that their weight-bearing will be able to help hold

correction. And these kids think nothing of crawling around in that

thing, or doing anything else, for that matter, so why should we, as

parents, be bothered lol

Let us know if there is anything you need help with.

Angel

> Sam is absolutely amazing --- he's got lightning fingers!

>

> We're in Seattle, actually, north end even, making it very easy to

> get over to Dr. Mosca.

>

> Thanks for the tip about the brace hours. I'll ask him about it,

> when the time comes, but really, I think the person to convince

> will be my husband. It's not like the Dr. can keep us from doing

> more hours with the brace...

>

September 24, 2005

You can try punching a new hole in the shoes, but I believe that the

Markell's do come in narrow width. it is worth checking out, at

least.

Angel

> > Hi folks,

> >

> > I posted here a few months ago when Raphael (born 9/12/05) was

> > diagonsed in utero with unilateral cf, and Joybelle pointed me

to

> > this group! I haven't been able to keep up in the meantime,

but

> > will try to do so now. Great information here, but I wish that

> > Yahoo! had a better UI for their groups.

> >

> > We had our first appointment with Dr. Mosca on 9/21/05, after

> > cancelling the one we had scheduled for 9/9 since Raphael

> > hadn't decided to make an appearance yet! I'm glad that we

> > had those 9 days pre-cast to settle in with Raphael and cuddle

> > his cute little foot. We took a lot of pictures of it the

morning

> > his cast was going on.

> >

> > Dr. Mosca classified Rafe's case as " moderate " when we asked

him.

> > The pediatricians who looked at it before said it has pretty

good

> > flexibility. Lucky for us, Rafe is a very mellow baby, and

hasn't

> > seemed too bothered by the cast. He's already a good sleeper,

> > and the pattern hasn't changed since the cast. I wonder how

we'll

> > know if he's developing any pressure sores, though. I try to

keep

> > his leg elevated, but can't all the time...

> >

> > The technician who did the wrapping on the cast (while Dr.

Mosca

> held

> > his foot in the right position) suggested we use some toddler

socks

> > with the toes cut off to create a sleeve at the top of the cast

to

> > keep it clean in case of diaper leaks. This seems to be

working

> so

> > far for us (and good thing we have lots of toddler socks around

> > from our older child). Any other tips on keeping the cast

clean?

> >

> > The week that Raphael should be getting his third cast, Dr.

Mosca is

> > going to be out of town, so we're going to be seen by a fellow

who

> > is training with Dr. Mosca (a young Dr. from New Zealand). I

hope

> > that his technique is up to snuff. It's just one cast, though,

and

> > the next week we'll see Dr. Mosca again.

> >

> > Thanks,

> >

> > --

> > Toby 5/02

> > Raphael lcf 9/05, first cast

>

September 25, 2005

Glad to hear another vote of confidence for the young doctor! It's

really important that more folks get trained to do this right, and

I don't see how that training can happen without hands on experience,

but it's hard when it's your own baby's foot, y'know?

Reading this group, it seems like the casts are the easy part on

parents though. Lots of posts about the shoes/braces! So far we're

doing pretty good with the cast, though it would be nice to be able

to be lazier about diaper changes...

--

Toby 5/02

Raphael 9/05, lcf, first cast

> I met the doctor in training w/Dr. Mosca as well. He seems to know what he is

doing.

You should be fine with him for one cast.

>

> My daughter, Addison (bcf, 7/3/04), had her 3-month checkup with Dr. Mosca

last

week. He said she's doing great, and now we'll see him in 4 months instead of

3! I had a

concern about her left foot - it looked like it was turning in, but he said it

definitely was

NOT. I'm so relieved. I really like Dr. Mosca, but man, I do miss Dr. sy

in Atlanta!

Maybe it's because he's the one who " fixed " her in the beginning.

>

> I do have a question about Markells - the strap was starting to break on her

shoes, and

by the time we got out of our appt, the darn orthotics dept was closed, so I

called the next

day and they just sent me a new pair. These are size 2 1/2. The length is good

for her,

but she is on the LAST hole in the strap. I'm wondering if her foot is just

extremely

narrow? Do they make Markells in a narrow width? If so, I'm going to call the

Orthotics

department and ask that they change them out. She has slipped out of the shoes

once

this past week, and I cannot go any tighter with the strap.

>

> Thanks!

>

September 25, 2005

Thanks for the info. I'll start working on him early, I think :-)

> > Sam is absolutely amazing --- he's got lightning fingers!

> >

> > We're in Seattle, actually, north end even, making it very easy to

> > get over to Dr. Mosca.

> >

> > Thanks for the tip about the brace hours. I'll ask him about it,

> > when the time comes, but really, I think the person to convince

> > will be my husband. It's not like the Dr. can keep us from doing

> > more hours with the brace...

> >

September 26, 2005

--- wrote:

> We had our first appointment with Dr. Mosca on 9/21/05, after

> cancelling the one we had scheduled for 9/9 since Raphael

> hadn't decided to make an appearance yet! I'm glad that we

> had those 9 days pre-cast to settle in with Raphael and cuddle

> his cute little foot. We took a lot of pictures of it the morning

> his cast was going on.

Hi, ! I'm so glad you got lots of pictures of Raphael's little feet.

That is something we didn't do, and I wish we'd taken more.

> Dr. Mosca classified Rafe's case as " moderate " when we asked him.

> The pediatricians who looked at it before said it has pretty good

> flexibility. Lucky for us, Rafe is a very mellow baby, and hasn't

> seemed too bothered by the cast. He's already a good sleeper,

> and the pattern hasn't changed since the cast. I wonder how we'll

> know if he's developing any pressure sores, though. I try to keep

> his leg elevated, but can't all the time...

I'm happy to hear the cast hasn't bothered Rafe's sleeping habits. We

actually never had a pressure sore, so I'm hoping the same for you.

> The technician who did the wrapping on the cast (while Dr. Mosca held

> his foot in the right position) suggested we use some toddler socks

> with the toes cut off to create a sleeve at the top of the cast to

> keep it clean in case of diaper leaks. This seems to be working so

> far for us (and good thing we have lots of toddler socks around

> from our older child). Any other tips on keeping the cast clean?

That's a good tip the tech gave you. I'll have to remember that one. I feel

like I'm going to have to relearn a few things here! I don't have anything to

add because,honestly, I don't remember!

Hope Rafe continues to do well with the casting.

Joy

http://www.geocities.com/joybelle15/rosesclubfootpage.html

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September 26, 2005