My link didn't work?

[Guest guest]

Here's the article I'm not sure why my link isn't working?

This story was printed from Gothenburg Times.

Site URL: http://www.gothenburgtimes.com.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------

Mann family can't trade places

They endure with Brett who had foot surgery

By Barrett

January 30, 2005

The Mann family poses with son Brett who underwent radical foot

surgery in December to correct a clubfoot. Pictured are, l-r: Jim

Mann, Kolton Mann, Brett Mann, Mann and Mann.

Mann would trade places with her son in a second.

" But I can't so I just hold him, rock him, pray with him and tell

him I love him, " said as 8-year-old Brett sat on a couch--his

left foot and ankle cradled by a painful-looking halo apparatus

propped on a pillow.

In a few minutes, would take a wrench and crank the nuts on

each of the three bolts on the halo or external fixator.

The bolts are attached to pins inserted in Brett's foot and lower

leg bones. With the tightening of the nuts four times a day, both

his heel bone and foot are pulled down a millimeter a day.

Although Brett was born with a congenital malformation known as

clubfeet, surgery at seven months seemed to help both feet until two

years ago.

That was when said his left foot began to regress into its

former crippling state.

At that time, she said surgeons removed a wedge of bone from the

foot and cast it to try and correct the problem just as they did

when he was a baby.

said Brett was one of the 5% of children with clubfeet who

have surgery where malformation later reoccurs.

After consulting with physicians at Shriner's Hospital in

Minneapolis where all of the surgeries have been done, the family

loaded up their van and returned to the hospital where Brett

underwent yet another surgery on Dec. 20, 2004.

" They had given us several options such as fusing the bones,

amputation or doing surgery where an external fixator is attached, "

explained.

and husband Jim chose the latter which is considered a radical

surgery as blood circulation to the toes can be cut off, causing the

appendages to die.

" We wouldn't have done it without our family there, " she said,

referring to Jim, their freshman daughter and seventh-grade

son Kolton. " We prayed that God would give us the time when we could

all go together and it worked out. "

During the six-hour surgery, Jim said doctors straightened Brett's

foot for about 10 minutes to see if the blood would flow to his

toes. It was held in place with the fixator.

However when the blood quit flowing, they returned the foot to its

original state and inserted eight pins with 16 different entry

places.

" They did that because of the anatomy of his foot so the correction

would be gradual to make sure his blood vessels could find the way

to flow, " she explained.

Jim said the tendons and ligaments in his son's foot were also re-

lengthened and the scar tissue from previous surgeries cleaned out.

Once he awoke from the surgery, Brett received epidural injections

to block pain in his lower body. Morphine and oral painkillers

followed.

This is the external fixator Brett wears where pins inserted in his

foot and leg bones are tightened four times daily to bring down his

heel bone and correct his club foot.

" I slept a lot that first week, " Brett said.

Two days after surgery, medical staff members began turning the nuts

on the bolts of the external fixator. They showed and Jim how

to perform the procedure and how to clean the skin daily around the

16 holes holding pins and other equipment in their son's foot and

lower leg.

Cleaning around the insertion points often hurts worse than

tightening the pins, Brett said.

" It stings and hurts and sometimes they touch a nerve, " he said.

said Brett will wear the external fixator for at least three

months. It will be removed when doctors believe the foot has been

corrected enough.

" The goal is to gradually pull his foot to a straight position so he

has a flat, workable foot with a range of motion, " Jim said.

After about a month out of school, Brett returned to his third-grade

classroom on Jan. 12 where he's assigned a different classmate every

three days to wheel him in his wheelchair, spend time with him at

recess and help in whatever way is needed.

" They always make sure my foot doesn't get bumped but once they

pushed a desk accidentally and it did, " he said, noting that the

bump did no damage, it only hurt.

Last week, Brett demonstrated how he could touch his left toes to

the floor while he used a walker to travel across the room.

Like , the hardest part for Jim in dealing with Brett's

condition is knowing his son hurts and not being able to make it go

away.

" Carrying him everywhere at first was difficult too, " he said,

noting that all family members still need to be careful not to bump

his foot especially when Brett is loaded and unloaded from the van.

In addition, Jim said it's hard knowing when to discipline Brett for

disobedience.

" We still need to be strict but he loves to be coddled, " he

explained.

Brett demonstrates a toe touch to the floor which he is now able to

do with the aid of a walker.

Jim said he's struggled with different emotions and concerns but

finally turned them over to God.

" He loves Brett more than I do and has his best interest in hand, "

Jim said. " That's now a comfort but it's taken me a long time to get

there. "

The family has been stressed, he pointed out, but the Lord puts

everything in place.

He added that the family spends a lot of time praying together which

has resulted in positive things.

With Brett not able to help around the house as much, Kolton joked

that he's had to work harder.

On a more serious note, both Kolton and said they are scared

their brother might fall and injure himself and his left foot.

said she also gives her anxiety about Brett to God as well as

relationship concerns because of divorce statistics.

She said 50% of parents with a handicapped child eventually divorce.

With Brett and Kolton--who has muscular dystrophy and was also born

with club feet that have been corrected--those statistics double.

" We've been given things in our lives that most families wouldn't

make it through but we've had God and each other, "

said. " That's the only way. "

Brett said he appreciated having someone around with the same

handicap like Kolton who knows what he's been going through in

addition to his relationship with God.

" I don't feel so alone, " he said.