Re: Just Joining

January 22, 2006

I will try to make it short and simple!

With Dr. Ponseti's method, a child is usually only in 5-7 casts, maybe one or

two more. The last cast often stays on 3 weeks instead on 1 because the child

will have a tenotomy. This procedure is a small knick of the achilles tendon,

where the operating room is often not needed. The 3 weeks, is so the knick can

heal. Now the casting, there is a difference. Before the Ponseti method, and

still for doctors not using it, the move the foot into the right position, but

they do not take into account what the bones are doing. The foot just " looks

right. " With the Ponseti method the foot is gradually brought down, around, and

then up to the correct position. This makes sure the bones are aligned

properly. 's feet almost looked like they were pointed in one of his

casts because the doctor had them brought down.

After casting, the child is put into a set of shoes attached to either an

adjustable bar or a fix bar. The shoes are set at 70 degrees to match the angle

of the foot in the last set of casts. This keeps everything in line, so as not

to relapse. The shoes are worn 23 hours a day for 3 months, then hours are

gradually decreased until the child is walking. At this time, they wear the

shoes and bar 12-14 hours a day until age 3-5.

AFO's are NEVER used in the Ponseti method because they do not keep the

required 70 degree angle. Research has shown the most success with the shoes

and bar, and far less success with the AFO's.

This is all that is needed in the Poseti method. There is something called

atypical clubfoot. This foot IS harder to treat, but with a doctor who has

dealt with this condition, they can get the foot corrected. shoes and

bar are used for children with this condition.

I hope I made this short and sweet, but I did want to give you all the info.

Ask any questions you need!

11/19/04

Huston wrote:

Yeah, sorry about that, I am still new to all these clubfoot terms. Up

until all these mistakes started happening I just trusted the

doctors..........You know the " Ok shes a doctor, she knows what shes doing "

But I totally regret this know....I have done lots of thinking and I never

really spoke up about na's treatment, I just let the docs do their

thing...boy was I ever wrong. There is no point in dwelling on the past

however-just tryin to move on and find somethin better.

Ok so it I found out na's treatment is a modified Ponseti version, so

they say, with Botox.

If I could go back in time, there are many things I would have

changed....na would never have received a botox--let alone 3. The

doctor also used K wires (threaded pins) along with the surgery. These k

wires went in the back of the ankle where the tenotomy is done and came out

the bottom of her foot-An L shape. She also know has 2 huge pressure sores

on the top of her foot because of casts being put on too tight which are

still here and those casts were applied 7 weeks ago now-kinda wonderin if

they are ever gonna go away.

Anyways, I am just sort of wondering exactly what the Ponseti method is and

still trying to figure out the difference between this and na's doctors

method-besides the botox part-

I am slowly doin the research-if anyone can make the long story short, that

would be great

Thanks,

>From: " number23 "

>Reply-To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>To:

>Subject: Re: Just Joining

>Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 22:23:12 -0600

>

>I'm glad you're here; I'd heard about your story from others recently and

>was just totally aghast. I'm so sorry your daughter has gone through so

>much.

>

>You say she had " Ponseti casting " . Um, are you sure? None of this

>describes anything like the Ponseti Method except the use of casts. The

>method of casting used in the P-method is very different though. Obviously

>not all serial casting is created equal.

>

> There's no use of botox either, or pins... For this doctor to even

>pretend to use the Ponseti Method is right up there with blasphamy. It

>really makes me angry - like buying a genuine artificial fake fur coat.

>

>How can we help you and your daughter from here aside from finding that

>doctor and kicking his butt with botox and pins for you? Seriously, let us

>know, ask your questions - what ever we can do to get you all past this and

>on to happier days just say the word. My heart breaks for your little

>girl.

>

>shawnee

> Just Joining

>

> My daughter is 6 and a half months old. She

> has bilateral clubfoot. She has already had an Achilles Tendon

> lengthening on both feet. Her left foot is looking amazing but her

> right foot still needs a little work. However, it was a really long

> haul to get here. na's had treatment (casting Ponseti

> method) since she was 6 days old. nas doctor is researching

> the use of botox with these babies. So na had 3 injections

> while most babies only have one. In my opinion it did not work at

> all for na. na has also been placed under general

> anaesthetic 6 times-half of those times being mistakes the doctors

> made. After nas surgery(Achilles Tendon and they put pins to

> hold her in her casts)-Dec 1, 2005-they put her casts on too tight,

> so they had to put her back to sleep again to change her casts.

> After 3 weeks of the cast, they started to smell, so we had to go

> again-they put her to sleep and once again put her casts on too

> tight. So when we got home, I took her to another hospital, and

> they split her casts in the front to give a few millimetres leway.

> Anyways, they also did that once before her surgery as well. To add

> to this, they cut her feet both times they had to use the saw so she

> has 2 huge scars going all the way up her feet because of more

> mistakes.

> By the way, thanks everyone for letting me know about this site

> But now, na has custom made Ankle Foot Orthoses (AFO) and we

> are gonna start trying the Dennis Browne boots and bars at night.

>

January 22, 2006

Hello .

I am very sorry to hear about poor na's treatment thus far. Somehow I

missed any previous posts you had made about her story.

First of all, where are you located? Have you found a qualified doctor in the

method yet? I may have missed that part of your story as well. You mentioned

you were going to start the DBB. Are her feet corrected already? As you may or

may not know, her feet have to be fully corrected before going into the DBB or

the DBB won't work. Also, you might as well throw away the Afo's. You can add

them to everyone else's AFO trash pile who use to have them. My daughter being

one of them. They don't work and are also not part of the Ponseti treatment.

I really hope you have found the right doctor for your daughter. The poor

thing has been through so much (unnecessarily) already. Please let us know how

elae we can help. Welcome to the board.