New, but not so new

[Guest guest]

Hi there,

I've been reading and occasionally posting on the clubfoot group

board for about 2 years now. I have a son (21 mos.) with a right

clubfoot. He has been treated with casts, 2 tenotomies and a DB

bar. He has currently been fitted for a SMO (supramaleolar

orthotic). My son's treatment has been a series of snafus. There's

a long long story behind that culminating with him breaking his

right leg (just above the ankle) shortly before Christmas. His foot

looks 110% better than when he was born, but we're still not out of

the woods.

Long story short, here's where we're at. Back in Oct. he seemed to

be having a relapse. His Dr. suggested surgery. We didn't want to

go that route so Dr. began casting his foot again and we did this

for about 6 weeks. The foot made great strides and after

Thanksgiving it was decided that casting was over and I would

continue stretching his foot at home daily. Literally the next day,

he broke his leg. His leg was in a cast for 4 weeks with no

stretching or continued therapy for his clubfoot until the break

healed. Now he's out of the cast, I'm stretching his foot again

daily, and he's been fitted for a SMO but I feel like all the

progress we made before the break has been lost.

I truly don't want to have to resort to surgery, but I wonder where

we're going from here. I love his Dr. She's been wonderful working

with us and listening to our concerns and choosing treatment options

that respect our reservations about surgery up to this point, but I

just don't know where we're headed anymore. Does anyone have some

feedback for me? Maybe a similar story of a challenging foot to

fix? We've come SO far. I don't want to give up! But I'm worried.

Thanks for the sympathetic ear.

(Mother of 3/30/04)