Re: update on Sophie/dr. Frick

[Guest guest]

Hi Zoe,

My son Tilak was treated by Dr. Ponseti, and he is perfectly fine, 5

year old now. I am in Atlant and I visited Dr. Frick once for yearly

follow-up. Since Tilak is doing fine he has nothing else to say. It

was a short visit. I don't have personal treatment experience with him.

Dr. Ponseti recommeded Dr. Frick for follow-up visit as well. Thanks.

-Tejal

>

> Hello everyone,

> Wondering if anyone can tell me their experience w/ Dr. Frick in

Charlotte.

> We saw him for a second opinion yesterday on my 4 mo old Sophie.

Her heels

> had not been sitting all the way in the p/m brace, and her legs and

feet had

> looked black and blue and puffy several nights in a row. (anyone

ever had

> this happen?)

>

> Frick confirmed her feet were not corrected completely, and he had a

hard

> time dorsiflexing them to neutral. She will need a 2nd tenotomy in

2 wks.

> We are nervous about that but Frick seemed great and I'm at least

relieved

> to have a doctor whose opinion we can trust.

>

> I think hewill be worth the 4-5 hr drive every few weeks, but just

wondering

> if anyone can reassure me especially as he'll be doing the procedure and

> we've only met him once. He's doing general anesthesia b/c of her age.

> yikes. She had it the 1st tenotomy also and that was the worst part.

>

> He's on Ponseti's list and I know is in close contact w/ him and

Herzenberg,

> and he seemed extremely knowledgeable. His own son, interestingly,

was born

> w/ bilateral cf and he said he's 15 and continues to have problems w/his

> feet, and has had 9 surgeries. Dont know what the deal was w/ that,

maybe

> that was pre-Ponseti.

>

> Thanks all,

> Zoe

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have nothing to help here except I'm sorry you're back to

square one with things.

> s

>

>

Yes it is rather frustrating but we're not exactly back to square one

as Sophie will just have to have one set of casts (2 wks), then the

tenotomy, then the set of casts to heal the incisions. At least

that's the way it looks now.

It has been an educating experience, though. We had thought we'd be

okay switching to a " Ponseti-Modifier " when we moved since he was the

closest ped-ortho. (Sophie's feet were corrected initially over 6

weeks not counting tenotomy, before we moved to the South, with a

purer Ponseti approach) We thought, hey, all this new guy has to do

is perform the tenotomy, and put the last set of casts on. Even if he

is not a Ponseti purist, it won't be a big deal anyway because her

feet are already corrected.

Wrong! Feet left out of casts too long while waiting for tenotomy,

feet not turned out far enough (abducted?) in healing casts, tenotomy

possibly performed in wrong place (Frick our new doc explained

Ponseti likes to perform the procedure a little farther up on the

achilles tendon, rather than right in the heel crease, to make sure

to get all of it), and probably other things we werent aware of.

Nevertheless, the end result was that her feet did not dorsiflex

enough and she was not ready for the dbb we kept her in for over 2

wks. Thank God we saw Frick when we did.

So we've learned 1)trust your instincts 2)do not see non-Ponseti

purists at any stage in the correction process.

Thanks for the words regarding Frick; that confirms my impression, he

seems awesome! am sick of second-guessing everything the doctor says.

Zoe

> update on Sophie/dr. Frick

>

>

> Hello everyone,

> Wondering if anyone can tell me their experience w/ Dr. Frick in

Charlotte.

> We saw him for a second opinion yesterday on my 4 mo old Sophie.

Her heels

> had not been sitting all the way in the p/m brace, and her legs and

feet had

> looked black and blue and puffy several nights in a row. (anyone

ever had

> this happen?)

>

> Frick confirmed her feet were not corrected completely, and he had

a hard

> time dorsiflexing them to neutral. She will need a 2nd tenotomy in

2 wks.

> We are nervous about that but Frick seemed great and I'm at least

relieved

> to have a doctor whose opinion we can trust.

>

> I think hewill be worth the 4-5 hr drive every few weeks, but just

wondering

> if anyone can reassure me especially as he'll be doing the

procedure and

> we've only met him once. He's doing general anesthesia b/c of her

age.

> yikes. She had it the 1st tenotomy also and that was the worst

part.

>

> He's on Ponseti's list and I know is in close contact w/ him and

Herzenberg,

> and he seemed extremely knowledgeable. His own son, interestingly,

was born

> w/ bilateral cf and he said he's 15 and continues to have problems

w/his

> feet, and has had 9 surgeries. Dont know what the deal was w/

that, maybe

> that was pre-Ponseti.

>

> Thanks all,

> Zoe

>

>

>