Seeking treatment feedback for an 18 month old coming home from China

[Guest guest]

Hi! My name is Holly and I just joined your group last night. I spent

some time reading the posts and plan to do more research.

We recently found out about a baby girl in China with a minor Rt. club foot (I

am just learning the terms but her foot points straight down and inward). We

are thrilled to be adopting this angel and hope to travel in Feb. or March. She

spends most of her days sitting in a walker just waiting for her family. We ran

around doing paperwork and it should arrive in China next week.

We have emailed Dr. Ponsetti and he has been wonderful answering our questions.

He seems like an amazing man.

My question....have any of you started treatment for your child at about a year

and a half or older? If so, what has your experience been?

We are considering making the trip to Iowa this Spring.

Thanks for your feedback in advance and I look forward to reading about your

experiences.

Holly

Blessed Mom to

Caroline from China age 6

from Guatemala age 3

and Waiting for 1 year old Mia in China

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

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[Guest guest]

Hi Holly, There is a family that is in Iowa right not having their

daughter also adopted from China treated by Dr. Ponseti. She is 3

years old and had no prior treatment, her feet already look amazing to

me!!!! We had the opportunity to get to know the little girl and her

mother and are very impressed with her treatment in Iowa. I'm sure

they would be more then happy to contact you, if you would like me to

ask them to e-mail you or call you please let me know just e-mail me

personally at chele323232@... and I can contact her tommorow,

today's a bit hectic (being Halloween and all!).

Michele

Collin's story at http://www.geocities.com/chele323232

[Guest guest]

Hi Holly and congratulations on your growing family! We joined this

list a little over two years ago when we learned our son had

bilateral club feet. Zeke was born in Samoa and joined our family

when he was 6 months old. He began treatment with Dr. Ponseti at

6.5 months old, and now subjects his lovely feet to the daily abuse

of belonging to a toddler, with no pain and no limitations. I think

you will hear from several parents whose children began treatment

with the Ponseti method at an older age and have responded

beautifully. I didn't know if you also had concerns about how a

child who has been recently adopted might deal with the additional

adjustment of casting, etc. Here's our story. New country, new

climate, new language, new smells, new sounds, new food, new family

full of people who don't look like anyone he has seen before... Two

and a half weeks after his world turned upside down, Zeke was

amazingly happy every time we went to see Dr. Ponseti,despite a

weekly 7.5 hr. roundtrip by car(and he'd never been pinned in a

carseat before...that was fun...). He loved Dr. Ponseti as well as

all the staff. Their kindness was always apparent and he responded

with trust and joy. Zeke was very active even at 6 months, and I

had some concerns whether he would have trouble bonding with us,

these new people who were restricting his freedom with casts and

carseats, but he seemed to grasp that this all was for his good. He

immediately found ways to be mobile in his casts and enjoyed the

loud sound they created when hitting the floor. Zeke talks about

Dr. Ponseti with great warmth despite only seeing him now for 6

month checkups. It seems Dr. Ponseti made a lasting impression on

him, and I count it a blessing that Zeke has had his feet (and his

mind) shaped by a great man. Zeke did not have the same response to

all doctors; he hated his first pediatrician and would tense up and

cry just walking into her office, and that was before he started any

immunizations, so it wasn't a pain issue.

I don't know if you will run into similar immunization issues with a

toddler, but we were not able to start any immunization until he was

out of the casts since shots for children his age were in the

thigh. I don't find this to be a big deal, I was happy to delay,

but this can be an issue if you are using child care, since they

usually require children to be current.

All the best to you and your family,

Caroline Park, mom to Zeke, 2.5 yrs old, bcf