Re: question about new Markell shoes

[Guest guest]

Hi Halley,

Wow time flies, can't believe Keira is going into the shoes already -

congrats!

The new style Markells already do have a hole cut out in the back and

she should be fine in them as long as you are getting her heel all

the way down in the shoes and doing them up super tight.

I was trying to say (not so successfully in that post I guess) that I

think that the hole would be better placed on the rear side of the

shoe instead of right on the back of it.

As for the shoe size, there isn't even a full size difference between

Graces cf and her noncf at this point. She went into a 00 at 2 mos.

With our first pair, our ortho didn't give us a pair that were too

big to make sure that we didn't have any issues with getting them on

tight tight tight. Now when we get new shoes, we get them quite big

on her so that they last longer. So when your ortho measures her

noncf, as long as it fits that foot comfortably and isn't too too big

then you shouldn't have any issue with her cf fitting as it will be a

bit smaller.

As for keeping the tenotomy cast on for 2 weeks instead of three, as

long as her tenotomy incision has healed well and her foot moves out

to (or even better a bit past) a 70 degree outward rotation and she

has good dorsiflection, I personally would be ok with it.

Hope you are all well and that you have a smooth move into the shoes=)

& Grace

ps. I was in Calgary recently and had planned to call you but my bags

got lost with Grace's brace in her suitcase (direct flight so I

thought no prob ha) and it was a total nightmare to get it sorted out

as Air Canada is one of those co's that have farmed out their C/S to

India so didn't get a chance =(. Definately will give you a shout

next time I am back though (will carry on her brace this time!).

>

> Hello,

>

> I need to order the new Markells for Keira right away as she just

has her

> tenotomy done on Thursday. When you say cut a hole in the heel, I

have a

> hard time picturing it as there is already an opening in the heel

of the new

> shoe style. Sorry to sound so daft but I want to be able to know

what I am

> talking about when I see the orthotist.

>

> Also, we weren't sure she'd have her tenotomy last week as he

thought she

> may have needed one more cast so we weren't really thinking about

ordering

> the shoes. In any case, if I'd known that she'd have it done last

week, I

> would have stopped at the store that orders Markell's and have them

measure

> her foot while out of the cast. There are shoes available through

the

> hospital but they are the old style and in any case, they didn't

have any

> there last week to size her with.

>

> So, I guess we'll just have her non-clubfoot measured but I

wondered if this

> would be a problem. Her clubfoot is a wee bit smaller but I guess

she'll be

> wearing them on both feet not just the clubfoot and I imagine that

in most

> cases, you order one size for both feet.

> Any advice would be great as I would like to order right away since

they'll

> take a week or two to arrive.

>

> Also, my doctor, who I've been very pleased with, is a " Ponseti-

purist " and

> has been recommended by Dr. Pirani, said that sometimes he leaves

the

> tenotomy cast on for only two weeks. He said that he has had great

results

> and no concerns about it but he knows that Ponseti says three weeks

and it

> is our choice. Any ideas about this? Perhaps it is better to leave

it on

> three weeks. My husband figures we should just go with the two

weeks as he

> suggested.

>

> Thanks very much for any feedback you might have.

>

> Have a great weekend!

>

> Halley

>

>

>

>

> The new Markell shoes

>

> Hey all,

>

> I was thinking of sending an email to Jay regarding his new

shoes...I

> think that having a hole cut in the heel's of the shoes is a great

> great idea. Our orthotist (who has a rcf also) has been doing this

for

> a couple of years now. I actually didn't even realise that they

didn't

> come that way. But she cuts the hole in the rear inside of the

shoe,

> it's right where the heel comes down but not where the heel would

have

> any chance of rubbing.

>

> She says that she cuts the hole's there so that there wouldn't be

any

> chance of the heel rubbing the outside edges of the hole and

causing

> blisters or sores hmmmmm. Makes me really wonder if this is what

> happened with Isabella's poor heels.

>

> Would like to get some feedback from you all though before I send

the

> email.

>

> Thanks

>

> & Grace

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Kori, you are definately the resident expert here on sores/blisters

amoung other things! It is too bad that you Darby and family had to

go through this but it has made you who you are today and so many

families are so greatful for you sharing the knowledge that you have

gained.

That said, I am no expert here but our orthotist has said that she

perfers to NOT order the newer model of Markell shoes and just cut

the hole herself on the rear side (as shown on cfpics) of the shoe

instead. I had wondered if there was a chance that the Pre-cut hole

on the new model had contributed at all to those nasty sores that

Isabella had. Seems to me that if a foot were to slip in the shoes at

all, this could be an added issue.

I realise that the parent needs to get the foot into the shoe

properly in the first place and this would prevent most

sores/blisters from forming. But when you see sore's like that, you

just want to DO something and it brought to mind our ortho's feelings

about the new shoes and where the hole was.

This hole in the rear side of the shoe really dosen't have any direct

contact with the foot. Even the super cute fat feet are really mostly

fat in the fore part of the foot. I would think it better to have a

hole in an area of the shoe that would have minimal contact with the

feet in case of any slippage etc. That's all I was trying to convey.

& Grace

> > >

> > > Hello,

> > >

> > > I need to order the new Markells for Keira right away as she

just

> >has her

> > > tenotomy done on Thursday. When you say cut a hole in the heel,

I

> >have a

> > > hard time picturing it as there is already an opening in the

heel

> >of the new

> > > shoe style. Sorry to sound so daft but I want to be able to know

> >what I am

> > > talking about when I see the orthotist.

> > >

> > > Also, we weren't sure she'd have her tenotomy last week as he

> >thought she

> > > may have needed one more cast so we weren't really thinking

about

> >ordering

> > > the shoes. In any case, if I'd known that she'd have it done

last

> >week, I

> > > would have stopped at the store that orders Markell's and have

them

> >measure

> > > her foot while out of the cast. There are shoes available

through

> >the

> > > hospital but they are the old style and in any case, they didn't

> >have any

> > > there last week to size her with.

> > >

> > > So, I guess we'll just have her non-clubfoot measured but I

> >wondered if this

> > > would be a problem. Her clubfoot is a wee bit smaller but I

guess

> >she'll be

> > > wearing them on both feet not just the clubfoot and I imagine

that

> >in most

> > > cases, you order one size for both feet.

> > > Any advice would be great as I would like to order right away

since

> >they'll

> > > take a week or two to arrive.

> > >

> > > Also, my doctor, who I've been very pleased with, is a " Ponseti-

> >purist " and

> > > has been recommended by Dr. Pirani, said that sometimes he

leaves

> >the

> > > tenotomy cast on for only two weeks. He said that he has had

great

> >results

> > > and no concerns about it but he knows that Ponseti says three

weeks

> >and it

> > > is our choice. Any ideas about this? Perhaps it is better to

leave

> >it on

> > > three weeks. My husband figures we should just go with the two

> >weeks as he

> > > suggested.

> > >

> > > Thanks very much for any feedback you might have.

> > >

> > > Have a great weekend!

> > >

> > > Halley

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > The new Markell shoes

> > >

> > > Hey all,

> > >

> > > I was thinking of sending an email to Jay regarding his new

> >shoes...I

> > > think that having a hole cut in the heel's of the shoes is a

great

> > > great idea. Our orthotist (who has a rcf also) has been doing

this

> >for

> > > a couple of years now. I actually didn't even realise that they

> >didn't

> > > come that way. But she cuts the hole in the rear inside of the

> >shoe,

> > > it's right where the heel comes down but not where the heel

would

> >have

> > > any chance of rubbing.

> > >

> > > She says that she cuts the hole's there so that there wouldn't

be

> >any

> > > chance of the heel rubbing the outside edges of the hole and

> >causing

> > > blisters or sores hmmmmm. Makes me really wonder if this is what

> > > happened with Isabella's poor heels.

> > >

> > > Would like to get some feedback from you all though before I

send

> >the

> > > email.

> > >

> > > Thanks

> > >

> > > & Grace

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

Whatever the case, the fact that your orthotist

> cuts the heels out and isn't screaming *it'll ruin the

> shoe!*... she's a gem and you should absolutely share her! I say,

> whatever works... works. If it's a hole in the side, for whatever

> reason... go for it. I am sure she knows more than I do about this

> if she's working with CF babes regularly.

Yes she is great (has a rcf as well, I think that this makes it a

passion for her), she has worked closely with Dr. Pirani with his cf

babies for a number of years. We are very lucky to have her!

I

> may have forgotten to mention that we did mark where he sore was by

> opening the shoe and making an impression into the

> heel. See... when we did that her heel was pressed firmly into

the

> shoe where it should have been all along. So that's where he cut,

> and what we saw was the sore nowhere near the hole's center, in

fact

> it was up near the top right edge (hummm... maybe there's some kind

> of correlation here... her sore was slightly off to the outside

just

> a bit, nowhere near where Isabella's were though).

This is what I was wondering...if the edge of the hole could cause

any issues with the foot coming into contact with it and if it rubbed

at all well that wouldn't be a good thing. But it isn't a good thing

for the foot to rub anywhere in the shoe.

>

> Trust me, I'm not arguing real *knowledge as fact* about anything

> here because I don't know for sure much at all about the new shoes

> having never seen them personally. But imagining what they are,

> based on Markell's PDF and now, the pics of Isabella in her shoes

> where we got a peek at the hole a bit, I see that the hole itself

is

> actually the heel pocket area on the other model without the

> hole. I'm only guessing here when I say that I feel that the hole

> was not a contributing factor in this case but I really don't think

> so being that the counter in the shoe designed to press into the

> upper heel area is still there and fully functional because the

hole

> is so low. Not having leather in the lower heel area where no

> pressure sores have been reported being even near, PLUS the well

> known fact that the heel in a freshly corrected foot is not even

> formed well yet... I dunno... just not so sure the hole had

> anything to do with it. So many of us have done exactly what her

> parents did (I hate talking about them like that... we don't even

> know their names! lol) and not *FORCED* the foot deeply into the

shoe

> before tightening. Once the bugger is in there, without that

window

> we don't know a darn thing. I like the hole though. I wish I

could

> do some more in depth work with it so I could talk about it

> intelligently lol.

I totally agree, there needs to be a hole there so that you can see

where the foot/heel is! When you look at the new 1645 model though,

the hole is large and stitched. I wondered if the top stitched edge

may cause some problems.

>

> oh, ok I think I'm getting what you're talking about now... I see

> what you're saying, yes. It wouldn't there would it? ok, well

> either way I think both kinds would be effective as a window. how

> far can you see inside this way? can you actually see the heel in

> the back? I know that there were a couple times when I would

notice

> Darbi's foot coming up but I could only tell this from the little

> change in the distance from the bottom of her heel to the lower

edge

> of the hole. I honestly don't know what the heel rising would look

> like from the side. Oh, I gotta see your pics! The hole she cuts

is

> in the lower edge right? at the sole?

I will send another pic to the list. Our orthotist will be punching

this hole for all our shoes. Parents could request this for their

older kids too, the orthotist should have a punch right there in the

office. I always like to see where Grace's heel is, even now.

Ya know, as long as the hole in the new shoes isn't causing any

probs, it's all good! If there are no issues, then great =) but it

does make me wonder, that top stitched part of the hole in the

1645's...Something to keep an eye out for. I won't bother Jay cus

really the hole is great if it isn't causing any problems =)

> Thanks so much for offering this up ! Got my gears

> turning... I would love to experiment more with these shoes and

> holes... lol! Darbi's like almost 3 though! not a baby anymore :~

{

This group (with you leading the way!) is the reason that the 1645's

are now available! Pat yourself on the back girl!

> Kori

[Guest guest]

> This is what I was wondering...if the edge of the hole could cause

> any issues with the foot coming into contact with it and if it rubbed

> at all well that wouldn't be a good thing. But it isn't a good thing

> for the foot to rub anywhere in the shoe.

I am wondering about this as well and am interested to hear of other's

experience. got out of his casts last Friday and went into the

shoes. I had asked for the open-heeled shoes but the orthotist ordered

the wrong ones, the ones that are closed. When I had requested the open

ones he said he prefered not to have too many open places to avoid

rubbing. Makes sense but I didn't trust him because he bent the bar the

wrong way (even though the prescription spelled it out), he thought the

70 degree setting was extreme, and he didn't know anything about the

open-heeled shoes and had never heard of the Ponseti method. We used

the closed ones (1644s I think) for a week very successfully. We got

the open ones yesterday and I having a tough time with them. It is hard

to tell if his heels are down enough because his heels are so skinny

and now I am wondering if they were down all the way in the others. I

am also concerned that the stitching on the open part of the new ones

might cause problems, cause his foot to rub even if it is in correctly.

Any input from those more experienced would be greatly appreciated!

6-19-05 lcf FAB 23/7

>