Guest guest Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 I have been reading over many of the previous posts and thought I'd like to join in ... My third child was born 9/24/05 with a right club foot and has been sequentially casted since he was 2 days old. He just had an achilles tenotomy on Dec 6th and is currently in the cast for approx 4 weeks, then to another cast for ~3 more weeks before moving to the AKFO. My husband also has a right club foot, but was never treated the way kids are today. He's fully functional and you'd never know he had a club foot unless you looked closely. :-) I'm completely new to this process, and from what I have seen on the boards, most of the kids here have bilateral clubs, so I'm not sure if the treatment post tenotomy is the same for unilateral vs bilateral? It's my understanding that our ortho in Arlington Heights, IL will be putting our son into an AKFO as soon as he's done with approx 7 weeks of casting post surgery and he'll be in that orthotic 23/7 until he's walking, at which point I'm foggy on the course of treatment. I noticed another poster is seeing Dr Lemke in Geneva--- Would love to chat with you directly if you see this message! We live in Sugar Grove, but opted to see Dr Marty in Arlington Heights as he came highly recommended by a friend who's son was treated for bilateral foot issues (not club foot.) Anyway, I hope you all don't mind my jumping in and I apologize if I ask questions that have been asked a thousand times before!! :-) Stacee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Hi Stacee, good to have you on board. Not sure what I can say about your baby's treatment as it doesn't sound like Ponseti Method to me. Sounds like he's had quite a few casts, probably more than the Ponseti Method would have required (average of 5 casts, five to seven days between castings). My last son was treated by Dr. Ponseti in Iowa - he wore casts for 25 days pre-tenotomy, then 17 days post-tenotomy (42 days total). He's been wearing the FAB since then and has completely normal feet. Have you been satisfied with all the results so far though? Typically a child doesn't need 7 weeks to heal from a tenotomy, only 3, and often they out grow that cast and only go 2 weeks with excellent results. Are you interested in hearing more about the Ponseti Method or seeking a 2nd opinon from a P.M. doctor? Typically speaking AFO and AKFO style braces have had little success in maintaing the club foot correction after the casting phase often resulting in relapses, thus you'll notice all of us here have babies that wear what is called the Foot Abductin Brace (FAB, often called a DBB) which is shoes connected to a bar as that has been proven to maintain the correction as the child grows. Anyway, I won't hound you - but if there is every any question regarding your childs treatment/progress, etc., please don't hesitate to ask and know if he does not respond to your current treatment methods, he's young enough to back up and start over with the Ponseti Method before any surgical cures are attempted. Once he's operated on though you'll be stuck wtih those results, either good or bad (usually bad). If you haven't done so already I urge you to visit our Files and Links for lots of really great information about CF in general and treatments, etc. Good luck, shawnee First time posting... I have been reading over many of the previous posts and thought I'd like to join in ... My third child was born 9/24/05 with a right club foot and has been sequentially casted since he was 2 days old. He just had an achilles tenotomy on Dec 6th and is currently in the cast for approx 4 weeks, then to another cast for ~3 more weeks before moving to the AKFO. My husband also has a right club foot, but was never treated the way kids are today. He's fully functional and you'd never know he had a club foot unless you looked closely. :-) I'm completely new to this process, and from what I have seen on the boards, most of the kids here have bilateral clubs, so I'm not sure if the treatment post tenotomy is the same for unilateral vs bilateral? It's my understanding that our ortho in Arlington Heights, IL will be putting our son into an AKFO as soon as he's done with approx 7 weeks of casting post surgery and he'll be in that orthotic 23/7 until he's walking, at which point I'm foggy on the course of treatment. I noticed another poster is seeing Dr Lemke in Geneva--- Would love to chat with you directly if you see this message! We live in Sugar Grove, but opted to see Dr Marty in Arlington Heights as he came highly recommended by a friend who's son was treated for bilateral foot issues (not club foot.) Anyway, I hope you all don't mind my jumping in and I apologize if I ask questions that have been asked a thousand times before!! :-) Stacee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 I have to be honest and say that I didn't investigate as thoroughly as many of you did before having my baby... I know someone whose son was treated by the doc we chose with excellent results, so I went with him. I had heard about Dr. Lemke, but she is just so very young that I preferred to go with the doc we're with because he's older and has many more years of experience treating club feet. I'm starting to worry about the course of treatment after this cast comes off, though. My husband also has a club foot, as I posted earlier, and he remembers wearing the DBB -- or as he remembers, the shoes attached to the bar-- for many years. I'm almost positive that the doc we chose does not employ that method, and I don't know what his overall success rate is with the kids as they get older. You said that even if we don't obtain the results we're striving for, we could backtrack and start over, with the exception of surgery. What about our son's already having an achilles tenotomy? Are there any parents who did use the AKFO or AFO and obtained results that lasted? What is your recommendation, ee, as far as how to proceed now? What would you do if in our shoes? As far as I can tell, the doctor is using his own version of the Ponseti method. We have had 6 casts so far, including the one we're in now post tenotomy, and each looks almost identical to those shown in the sequential Ponseti photographs... each cast has turned the foot outward to the same approx degree as the Ponseti casts would, and they have been changed at either 7 or 10 day increments, with 2 short breaks to let the skin of my son's leg heal. (once for one week and once for 4 days) I'd happily entertain any input the experienced mommies (and daddies) have for us! My son is currently only 11 weeks old, so we're still extremely young and pliable, if you will! Stacee P.S. -- I may very well give you a call next week, if you really don't mind. I'd love to chat with someone who's going thru the same things!! > > Hi Stacee, good to have you on board. > > Not sure what I can say about your baby's treatment as it doesn't sound like Ponseti Method to me. Sounds like he's had quite a few casts, probably more than the Ponseti Method would have required (average of 5 casts, five to seven days between castings). My last son was treated by Dr. Ponseti in Iowa - he wore casts for 25 days pre-tenotomy, then 17 days post-tenotomy (42 days total). He's been wearing the FAB since then and has completely normal feet. > > Have you been satisfied with all the results so far though? Typically a child doesn't need 7 weeks to heal from a tenotomy, only 3, and often they out grow that cast and only go 2 weeks with excellent results. > > Are you interested in hearing more about the Ponseti Method or seeking a 2nd opinon from a P.M. doctor? > > Typically speaking AFO and AKFO style braces have had little success in maintaing the club foot correction after the casting phase often resulting in relapses, thus you'll notice all of us here have babies that wear what is called the Foot Abductin Brace (FAB, often called a DBB) which is shoes connected to a bar as that has been proven to maintain the correction as the child grows. > > Anyway, I won't hound you - but if there is every any question regarding your childs treatment/progress, etc., please don't hesitate to ask and know if he does not respond to your current treatment methods, he's young enough to back up and start over with the Ponseti Method before any surgical cures are attempted. Once he's operated on though you'll be stuck wtih those results, either good or bad (usually bad). > > If you haven't done so already I urge you to visit our Files and Links for lots of really great information about CF in general and treatments, etc. > > Good luck, > shawnee > First time posting... > > > I have been reading over many of the previous posts and thought I'd like to join in ... My > third child was born 9/24/05 with a right club foot and has been sequentially casted since > he was 2 days old. He just had an achilles tenotomy on Dec 6th and is currently in the > cast for approx 4 weeks, then to another cast for ~3 more weeks before moving to the > AKFO. > > My husband also has a right club foot, but was never treated the way kids are today. He's > fully functional and you'd never know he had a club foot unless you looked closely. :-) > > I'm completely new to this process, and from what I have seen on the boards, most of the > kids here have bilateral clubs, so I'm not sure if the treatment post tenotomy is the same > for unilateral vs bilateral? > > It's my understanding that our ortho in Arlington Heights, IL will be putting our son into > an AKFO as soon as he's done with approx 7 weeks of casting post surgery and he'll be in > that orthotic 23/7 until he's walking, at which point I'm foggy on the course of treatment. > > I noticed another poster is seeing Dr Lemke in Geneva--- Would love to chat with you > directly if you see this message! We live in Sugar Grove, but opted to see Dr Marty in > Arlington Heights as he came highly recommended by a friend who's son was treated for > bilateral foot issues (not club foot.) > > Anyway, I hope you all don't mind my jumping in and I apologize if I ask questions that > have been asked a thousand times before!! :-) > > Stacee > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.