Re: # of casts

November 10, 2005

-

It all depends on the severity of the case-your son may be a mild

case. With cast removal-our trick was to soak rags with vinegar/warm

water solution, wrap them around the casts and then cover them with

ziplock bags. This way-david was not in the water soaking for so

long. This pre soak lasted a couple of hours-we usually had him sit

in his bouncer while he presoaked-typically he slept(since he was

only a few weeks old). This trick made the whole cast removal

process smoother-however, the best was when we switched doctors to a

doctor that hand sawed his casts off-that was heavenly!!

Take care,

kathleen

mom to david fab 12/7 bcf

>

> Ethan, my son, just had his second cast put on today. Getting the

old

> cast off was a bit of a production and took a good 2.5 hours (we

> didn't realize how long it would take).

> With the first cast the Dr was able to get his feet to

nearly " flat "

> and with this second cast both feet are slightly over corrected.

The

> Dr said that based on Ethan's response so far, he is thinking that

he

> will only need one more cast before the tenotomy cast. In total

that

> means 3 casts plus the final tenotomy cast(which is only on for 2

weeks).

> Based on this, I was just wondering if other people had heard of

> having so few casts. I mean, it sounds great to me, but I think

this

> Dr might be a little over optimistic. Is it the case that the

number

> of casts can vary so much? ie 3 or 6 or 8

>

November 10, 2005

,

Does your doctor abduct the baby's foot to 70° after the tenotomy?

What doctor are you seeing?

It's not unusual for mild cases to be corrected in 3-4 casting

sessions. Just make sure that they're going to get you the super-

small shoes for the brace. If your doctor uses Markell shoes, make

sure the orthotist knows they come in 0000 size and different widths.

Print out the Markell flyer and shoe size chart from their website.

If his feet are too small, it's okay to have a couple of " holding

casts " post-tenotomy.

HTH,

& (3-16-00, lcf)

November 10, 2005

My son originally only had 3+1 casts. His foot, which was very severe,

responded so quickly to manipulation even the doctor was amazed! Now, he has

complex clubfoot (atypical, plantaris, take your pick lol) and in the tenotomy

cast his correction went awry, but if he had had a normal foot that would have

been it right there!

Angel

# of casts

Ethan, my son, just had his second cast put on today. Getting the old

cast off was a bit of a production and took a good 2.5 hours (we

didn't realize how long it would take).

With the first cast the Dr was able to get his feet to nearly " flat "

and with this second cast both feet are slightly over corrected. The

Dr said that based on Ethan's response so far, he is thinking that he

will only need one more cast before the tenotomy cast. In total that

means 3 casts plus the final tenotomy cast(which is only on for 2 weeks).

Based on this, I was just wondering if other people had heard of

having so few casts. I mean, it sounds great to me, but I think this

Dr might be a little over optimistic. Is it the case that the number

of casts can vary so much? ie 3 or 6 or 8

November 10, 2005

I believe our doctor doesn't abduct to 70 degrees. Not sure, but I

think he mentioned 45 degrees. We are in Australia so the Dr would not

be familar to you. He is on the certified list. Our Dr does use

markell shoes but we have mentioned the shoes and he seems

very open to using them (he wasn't aware of them previously). I don't

think my son's feet will be too small as we started the casts when he

was nearly 3 weeks old. He also is a good size and his feet are not

that small.

>

> ,

> Does your doctor abduct the baby's foot to 70° after the tenotomy?

> What doctor are you seeing?

> It's not unusual for mild cases to be corrected in 3-4 casting

> sessions. Just make sure that they're going to get you the super-

> small shoes for the brace. If your doctor uses Markell shoes, make

> sure the orthotist knows they come in 0000 size and different widths.

> Print out the Markell flyer and shoe size chart from their website.

> If his feet are too small, it's okay to have a couple of " holding

> casts " post-tenotomy.

> HTH,

> & (3-16-00, lcf)

>

November 11, 2005

Dr Ponseti told me Darbi would need only 3-4 casts. She ended up

with 5 and two healing casts (one of which finally abducted her to

70+ degrees) which I'm sure had more to do with non-Ponseti hands

(like *THE* Dr. Ponseti's hands) than anything else. I bet Dr. P

could have done it in 3 casts. So sure... it's possible :~}

Kori

At 06:52 PM 11/9/2005, you wrote:

>Ethan, my son, just had his second cast put on today. Getting the old

>cast off was a bit of a production and took a good 2.5 hours (we

>didn't realize how long it would take).

>With the first cast the Dr was able to get his feet to nearly " flat "

>and with this second cast both feet are slightly over corrected. The

>Dr said that based on Ethan's response so far, he is thinking that he

>will only need one more cast before the tenotomy cast. In total that

>means 3 casts plus the final tenotomy cast(which is only on for 2 weeks).

>Based on this, I was just wondering if other people had heard of

>having so few casts. I mean, it sounds great to me, but I think this

>Dr might be a little over optimistic. Is it the case that the number

>of casts can vary so much? ie 3 or 6 or 8

>

November 12, 2005

Hi,

The number of casts often depends on the severity of the CF, and also how

flexible they are, sometimes you¹ll find that one foot corrects before the

other so this foot gets a maintenance cast while the other one catches up. I

have met people with as few as 3 casts. Did they give you a score, Jasper¹s

feet were both 4.5 and he had about 10 casts, but as he was low birth

weight, his casts were changes every 4-5 days as he grew out of them that

quickly as his body caught up to the weight he was programmed to be, if he

wasn¹t growing so fast, he wouldn¹t have needed that many casts.

Tamsin

> Ethan, my son, just had his second cast put on today. Getting the old

> cast off was a bit of a production and took a good 2.5 hours (we

> didn't realize how long it would take).

> With the first cast the Dr was able to get his feet to nearly " flat "

> and with this second cast both feet are slightly over corrected. The

> Dr said that based on Ethan's response so far, he is thinking that he

> will only need one more cast before the tenotomy cast. In total that

> means 3 casts plus the final tenotomy cast(which is only on for 2 weeks).

> Based on this, I was just wondering if other people had heard of

> having so few casts. I mean, it sounds great to me, but I think this

> Dr might be a little over optimistic. Is it the case that the number

> of casts can vary so much? ie 3 or 6 or 8

>

November 12, 2005

Ps We are in Sydney, Australia, and see Dr Bellemore, our experience has

been great with the Children¹s Hospital at Westmead.