Re: Recurrence after DBB

[Guest guest]

My son is 21/2 and his feet are very straight and we were never told his

wouldn't be perfect. I have persevered with the FAB as he never slept too

good with it either and I also work so it does get wearing, but I have never

missed one night with it as I just think we have been through this and I don

t want to go through it again. I only have just over a year to go so I just

keep going with it. For the last 2 weeks he has slept all night every night

and so I am hoping he has finally settled (although he has had bouts of

sleeping through and then he starts waking again). They should have feet the

same as everyone else in the end.

Rach Steve & Connor

-- Recurrence after DBB

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on recurrence. My 1yo

son has been wearing his DBB off and on for the last month (he doesn't

sleep well wearing it, and neither do we). His feet look okay except

that one foot has always curved in a bit more than the other. It's

barely noticable and I don't think it will effect his ability to walk

or run, but...is it normal to have that little bit of asymmetry? The

doctors told me his feet would never be " perfect " . I just don't know

what that means. He has his appointment tomorrow, but only my husband

will be going and he's not very good at hearing what the doctor

actually says.

[Guest guest]

Here's a link to a recent post that Naomi made that had a bunch of

information about this:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/nosurgery4clubfoot/message/39695

(or type in 39695 in the message# box on the website).

Discarding the brace prior to age 2 is statistically the biggest

risk for relapse. I cannot tell you for sure if the curving on your

son's foot is a sign of relapse or just in-toeing/natural

curvature. There is some information on in-toeing in the files

section from Dr. son that might help you. Does the

foot sit flat on the floor? Does he still have the dorsiflexion

that he had initially?

What doctor is treating your son? If you're concerned about not

getting all the information that you need from your husband, you

could call your doctor's office and ask that your doctor call you

after the appointment to review his findings with you personally (or

call you on your cell phone while they're together if you'll be

somewhere that you can step out and take a call?). Or send a list

of questions with your husband and ask the doctor to either write

his responses on there or call/email you later to discuss.

I understand this completely because I would be in the same

situation if my husband had to take one of our kids to the doctor.

This is definitely important. You'll need to work with your doctor

to figure out how to get your son compliant with the brace and get

the necessary hours in. Maybe you need to increase his time in the

brace and get him used to wearing it again. You need to get him

used to it now so that you can keep him in it until age 4-5 as it's

the best insurance you have against a severe relapse needing

reconstructive surgery.

About the feet not being " perfect " , well, they should be *perfect*

from a functional standpoint. No pain and no limitations. From

an " aesthetic " standpoint, they may not look exactly like a non-

clubfoot, but this is going to be different from foot-to-foot and

kid to kid. Some kids have curvy toes and some have straight. You

can look at some of the pictures in the photos section to see if any

of the kids' feet look like your son's. You can see my daughter's

feet also if you're interested (birth through age 5)- the link to

the album is in the links section, or through our website (which

I'll paste below) on the photo gallery page.

Keep us posted!

& (3-16-00, left clubfoot)

http://ponseticlubfoot.freeservers.com/

[Guest guest]

He likes to sleep on his side so he ends up kicking off a shoe almost

every time. We just came back from his appointment this morning and

his shoes and bar are indeed too small. Should be easier to get him

back in to the routine now that we have the proper size.

Everyone keeps telling me that his growth should slow down, but he

keeps having growth spurts. He needs a new size every 3-4 months.

Both the doctor and resident said his feet look great. Excellent

range of motion. He just likes to curl one foot in more than the

other.

>

> It's hard to say what is up with his foot right now, but it's not a

far reach to say that in the future you can expect the foot/feet to

relapse quite a bit with out proper brace use. Then they will require

more casting and FAB use if not surgery(s).

>

> The FAB is very critical to the long term success of his

correction. As for " Perfect " feet - well a properly corrected club

foot is hardly noticable compared to a normal foot. In most cases,

if a person didn't know it was clubbed they wouldn't guess by looking

at it (a properly corrected foot) as the child enters toddlerhood and

beyond.

>

> What kind of issues is yoru son having with the FAB that doesn't

allow him to sleep in it? Could his bar be too short?

>

> s.

> Recurrence after DBB

>

>

> I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on recurrence.

My 1yo

> son has been wearing his DBB off and on for the last month (he

doesn't

> sleep well wearing it, and neither do we). His feet look okay

except

> that one foot has always curved in a bit more than the other.

It's

> barely noticable and I don't think it will effect his ability to

walk

> or run, but...is it normal to have that little bit of asymmetry?

The

> doctors told me his feet would never be " perfect " . I just don't

know

> what that means. He has his appointment tomorrow, but only my

husband

> will be going and he's not very good at hearing what the doctor

> actually says.

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

That's hilarious!

The doctor told us we were allowed to give him vacations from the

DBB. A few nights a month was okay. We have been abusing it. More

like a few nights a week. We'll stop now.

>

> You know the Bad Mommy that I am - I was going to let Everett have

a " night off " at Thanksgiving...the silly little poot woudln't go to

bed WITH OUT his brace on! LOL! He brought it to me!

> s.

>

> Recurrence after DBB

>

> I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on recurrence.

My 1yo

> son has been wearing his DBB off and on for the last month (he

doesn't

> sleep well wearing it, and neither do we). His feet look okay

except

> that one foot has always curved in a bit more than the other.

It's

> barely noticable and I don't think it will effect his ability to

walk

> or run, but...is it normal to have that little bit of asymmetry?

The

> doctors told me his feet would never be " perfect " . I just don't

know

> what that means. He has his appointment tomorrow, but only my

husband

> will be going and he's not very good at hearing what the doctor

> actually says.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Yikes, I would be worried about a few a week, that's like just wearing it 1/2

time, ya know? Once in a blue moon I let him take a break for a night, or

remove it a little early if necessary but I'm too darn scared of relapse to be

too lenient with it.

s.

Recurrence after DBB

>

> I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on recurrence.

My 1yo

> son has been wearing his DBB off and on for the last month (he

doesn't

> sleep well wearing it, and neither do we). His feet look okay

except

> that one foot has always curved in a bit more than the other.

It's

> barely noticable and I don't think it will effect his ability to

walk

> or run, but...is it normal to have that little bit of asymmetry?

The

> doctors told me his feet would never be " perfect " . I just don't

know

> what that means. He has his appointment tomorrow, but only my

husband

> will be going and he's not very good at hearing what the doctor

> actually says.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

It's a gray area. Consdiering they are supposed to wear this mechanic device

365 days a year for approx. four years it seems only reasonable to let them have

a night off on their birthday, for example, or Christmas, or on a special

over-nighter with their cousins/grandma/etc.

No, I don't mean once a week, or a few times a month but shoot we're only human

and so are they, kwim? A rare night off here and there isn't going to make or

break it.

's old physical therapist had kids (clients) with tons of major medical

problems and she was the first to say it - once in a while you just need to

let your kid be Normal! Take off the brace, or whatever (if it's not life

threatening) and be normal for an evening or something. Wear the pretty

christmas shoes to a party for a change instead of the devices.

I think this applies to the FAB too.

s.

Re: Recurrence after DBB

>

>

> That's hilarious!

>

> The doctor told us we were allowed to give him vacations from the

> DBB. A few nights a month was okay. We have been abusing it.

More

> like a few nights a week. We'll stop now.

>

[Guest guest]

I agree totally that a night off a couple of times a yr. isn't going

to hurt. But big difference between that and a few times a month!

Especially when first starting brace wear (after the full time wear

of course). This is the time when it needs to be on everynight - to

become a part of the bedtime routine - makes it so much easier in the

long run if your little one dosen't think twice about it.

And taking it off when baby is crying - except to make sure the feet

are Ok - just isn't a good idea. Our little girl would have that

figured out in 2 min. and take full advantage!

She is testing her boundries with Everything right now but has

never raised a fuss about her shoes, if I had been giving her the

occasional night out of them, I am not sure this would be the case.

It is amazing to me what she remembers and she has quite a little

stubborn streak (don't know where she gets that from hehe), I could

just see her saying " no shoes " (she is talking in sentences already)

like 2 or 3 weeks after giving her a night out lol.

& Grace

> >

> > Yikes, I would be worried about a few a week, that's like just

> wearing it 1/2 time, ya know? Once in a blue moon I let him

take a

> break for a night, or remove it a little early if necessary but

I'm

> too darn scared of relapse to be too lenient with it.

> > s.

> >

> > Re: Recurrence after DBB

> >

> >

> > That's hilarious!

> >

> > The doctor told us we were allowed to give him vacations from

the

> > DBB. A few nights a month was okay. We have been abusing

it.

> More

> > like a few nights a week. We'll stop now.

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I actually tried this one night. Kelsey was very sick and I thought I just

wouldn't put on her brace and give her a break that night. She will not sleep

at night without it. She put her feet up in the air, and pointed at them and

said " shoes " , which was actually one of her first words. So, I out them on

her, she laid down and went happily to sleep. Knowing this, I am not sure

what will happen when the day comes that she does not have to wear them

anymore.

Jenni

number23 wrote: It's a gray area. Consdiering

they are supposed to wear this mechanic device 365 days a year for approx. four

years it seems only reasonable to let them have a night off on their birthday,

for example, or Christmas, or on a special over-nighter with their

cousins/grandma/etc.

No, I don't mean once a week, or a few times a month but shoot we're only

human and so are they, kwim? A rare night off here and there isn't going to

make or break it.

's old physical therapist had kids (clients) with tons of major medical

problems and she was the first to say it - once in a while you just need to

let your kid be Normal! Take off the brace, or whatever (if it's not life

threatening) and be normal for an evening or something. Wear the pretty

christmas shoes to a party for a change instead of the devices.

I think this applies to the FAB too.

s.

Re: Recurrence after DBB

>

>

> That's hilarious!

>

> The doctor told us we were allowed to give him vacations from the

> DBB. A few nights a month was okay. We have been abusing it.

More

> like a few nights a week. We'll stop now.

>

[Guest guest]

My guess is they'll have to be weaned off of it.

s.

Re: Recurrence after DBB

>

>

> That's hilarious!

>

> The doctor told us we were allowed to give him vacations from the

> DBB. A few nights a month was okay. We have been abusing it.

More

> like a few nights a week. We'll stop now.

>