Re: New here- Denis Brown Bar questions

[Guest guest]

Hi, I absolutely feel for you. We went through the same thing with the DBB.

The one thing I can say is stick to it. I know it is hard. You also know your

child. When we first had the shoes on - Robbie screamed and screamed, but it

wasn't a mad scream it was a painful scream. I took the shoes off immediately

and got right on the phone with the Dr. and the orthotist. We went back to the

orthotist the next day and sure enough the shoes were fitted incorrectly - her

supervisor came in and fixed them. That night was rough. I knew the cry was

more of a mad cry so the shoes stayed on and I stayed up. It only took two

nights, but I couldn't give in - that's what he wanted.

I know you can do it too!! Good luck,

Stefanie and Robbie (rcf, 4 1/2 mos)

volng8r1 wrote: Hello everyone! I'm a first time

mom to an almost 1 year old boy

born with bilateral clubfoot. He started the casting at 3 days, went

through 8 and had his tenotomy. Back in casts for 3 weeks, then

afterward we tried the DBB. It didn't work because the right foot

wasn't fully corrected, so back in casts. After more casting the doc

said he thought Lucas would need surgery but we'd wait and see. He

was able to correct the abduction part, but not something

else....can't remember what. Once surgery was decided upon, he

stopped the casting on the right foot because he said he could

actually end up doing more damage if continued. In the mean time, we

continued our stretching exercises to keep it abducted and the left

foot was put in an AFO and we did exercises on that as well.

Anyway, he had his surgery in Oct and got his casts off 2 weeks ago.

His left foot started to regress, so while he was in a cast after

surgery on the right, the left one also went through 2 casts to

recorrect it. We are trying the DBB again- and not having a good

time of it! Got it last Friday and it was impossible for me to put

on. Thanks to some good help I was able to get it on him....but he

cries constantly!

Tonight I thought I made a break through- he had it on for an hour

before bed- no fussing. Then he lasted 20 min in bed and started

fussing every 20 mins. Now, after an hour he's in a full blown fit

and nothing I do is making it stop. I thought at first that maybe I

was putting the shoes on wrong, but now that I see he's doing

alright for the first hour....I wonder if he's just pitching a fit.

He's always been a belly sleeper with his legs curled up under him

(even managed it in the casts). But now, he freaks out, even though

he can roll over onto his stomach. I've walked in and seen him like

that. But then he gets so worked up, I don't think he realizes that

he's there.

I've tried setting him down on his belly- doesn't work either. Last

night I lasted through 6 hours of crying- after that I took the

brace off so we could both get some sleep!! Tonight when I put the

shoes on, he chewed on the bar and was perfectly happy.

Anybody have any tips? How long does this last? Is it just a matter

of whose more stubborn, him or me?

BTW, our doc said he trained under Dr. Ponseti, but I can't find his

name on the website. He was there in 1995. He also a consulting

staff member for the Shriner's Hospital in the Twin Cities. I trust

him completely, and even though he isn't on the website, he answered

all of my questions just like he is supposed to, especially the

success rate and not doing surgery. He wasn't happy to do it and I

don't feel like he jumped the gun, but after being on other sites I

see that usually they wait a few years? Also someone from another

group told me that Dr. Ponseti would never do surgery, so what does

he do with the 5% that isn't corrected through casting?

I need to get, the youngun is still screaming. Lets see how long I

last tonight!

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

Jenn