Re: Why doesn't anyone know about the adjustable DBB?

[Guest guest]

At 04:24 PM 12/28/2005, you wrote:

>Everyplace I've looked (I figured I'd go ahead and fill our Rx for

>the bar) doesn't know

>anything about an adjustable Dennis Brown Bar... Am I nuts and it

>doesn't actually exist?

lol, it exists.

>Who makes/distributes the bar?

Fillauer - Markell Shoe distributes it as well as some others that I

don't know names of. It's red.

>What sizes does it adjust from and to?

Very small (lol, infant size - like 6 " ??) to about 14 " .

> Do all the Markell

>shoes work with the bar (eg when is 3-5 years old, if he's

>(presumably) still in the

>bar, will the required shoes to maintain correction still fit the

>DBB?) One place said he'd

>found 2 adjustable bars-- one 7-9 " and one 9-15 " ,

These aren't exactly adjustable - if they're the ones with the three

holes in each end. They're adjustable, just not infinitely

so. Meaning you can go up one or two inch increments by moving the

shoes to the outer holes but the bar itself is fixed. They make

three like this, small, medium and large. There is also a gold

adjustable bar that the shoe plates themselves are infinitely

adjustable with. You slide the shoes out towards the end of the bar

to adjust it. The bar itself also is a fixed length so when the

shoes are at the narrower settings the bar sticks out beyond the

shoes on the sides.

>but the bigger straight last shoes made

>by Markell only go up to roughly a size 4-5,

They make the Markell shoes in sizes up to 8 now, and are likely

going to be adding more sizes as older children are needing

shoes. But yeah, size 8 is pretty big and should last through the

4th year easily.

>which is much larger than the typical 3-5 yr old,

>so we'd have a bar that would fit the shoulder width, but no shoes

>to fit because they'd need

>the plate that attaches to the shoe to attach to the bar. Since

>I've never actually SEEN a DBB

>in person, I have absolutely no clue what he's talking about, nor

>what to ask!!

have them contact Markell Shoe and order directly. Also, subscribe

to the CFPics list and look in the photo library. There you will

find pictures of the various different FAB bars and shoes.

>ANY information would be GREATLY appreciated and helpful. I'm

>supposed to go to a shoe

>store specializing in Markells w/ the DBB on Friday to get this

>rolling before the year end

>(insurance benefit for the bar!!) so I'd like to go in fully informed!

If you still need help contact Markell Shoe directly

www.markellshoe.com and have them give you part numbers to take with

you on Friday. It really should be easier for these orthotists to

find these. Sounds like they're looking in a very old catalog or

something because the website clearly states this information. On

the Markell website, there's a .PDF about the 1644 shoes (called

Ponseti in the title) with a sizing chart that is printable (make

sure it's set at 100% when you print it in Adobe). It also shows and

lists the various bars available. The Fillauer bar is what you're

looking for though as it's the easiest to adjust. HOWEVER... I

suggest that you start with the gold bar (either the adjustable or

one of the fixed bars in 6 or 8 " depending on child's shoulders)

because it's very easy to take the shoes off this bar and it really

helps when you're learning to put the shoes on to have them

completely removed from the bar. The Fillauer bar is nearly

impossible to do this with (unless you've got 5 hands) if you remove

the shoes themselves however you can take it apart at the clamps to

achieve the same thing. It's a little more difficult and could wear

out the clamps prematurely but that's a small price to pay for ease

of applying the shoes properly. I can't suggest more that parents

new to the FAB remove the shoes to put them on. It really could save

lots of problems. Eventually you won't need to do this of

course. We stopped taking the shoes off at about 5mo's old and

haven't since.

Kori

>Thanks

>Stacee

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Kori!

I did sign up for the cfpics group and replied my little survey at the end, so

now I'm just

waiting.

I'm looking at the Markell website's Ponseti flyer and see there are 4 red bars

and 2 gold-

ish colored bars. I'm confused, though. (shock, huh?!?) If I were looking at

item D: 265

AJP bar, it appears that this bar adjusts infinitely within it's length... Am I

way off base

here? If it does adjust infinitely, that would seem like the best bar for the

money since it

would, in theory, adjust perfectly until my little 's shoulders exceeded

the max

width of the bar. I guess I'm not clear on the statement below the item

description that

says " They do not interchange with Tarso Splint parts " ... Does this mean that

the bar

doesn't work with the Tarso open toe shoes, or does it just mean that the nuts

and bolts

of the Fillauer Red 265 AJP don't interchange with item A & B's (the Tarso

splints) nuts and

bolts?

I'm sorry I'm making such a big deal of this... It's all so new to me and I was

surprised to

find that although I'm SOOOOOO thrilled that is out of his casts and I

can bathe

him properly with his older siblings, I'm freaked out and petrified that I'm now

responsible

entirely for making sure his little foot doesn't relapse... that his feet are

placed properly

for long enough every day to keep the correction in place. It was a sort of

comfort

knowing that I couldn't mess up the foot when it was in the cast. Does anyone

else feel

the same?

What is the standard for the degree rotation for the club foot and for the

non-club foot on

the bars? We're looking more closely at 's setup and it seems that his

non-club

foot is rotated pretty far for not being clubbed... It also seems like the club

foot isn't

rotated far enough. I know we should have looked more closely when we were at

Dr P's

office yesterday, but we were a little overwhelmed from the drive and our kids

who hadn't

had naps and were devilish!! We did ask if the rotation was good for his feet

since the bar

was a sort of hand-me-down and Dr P said yes, it's fine. Again, the paranoia

gets the best

of me!!

Does anyone think it would be a good/bad idea to fill the Rx from the previous

Doc? I

know the bar would be reusable, but the Markells wouldn't because they outgrow

shoes so

quickly. I'm just trying to get the best of the insurance company, if

possible... I was even

thinking of ordering a larger size of shoe and working them with saddle soap to

make

them softer, that way when outgrows this pair he's in, the new ones will

be soft

already (assuming they would fit.) Is that crazy? Actually I should ask, how

crazy is that?

Anyway, I'm just a mommy who wants the best for her kids, just like the rest of

you,

though I think I'm lots more nutty than anyone here!! :-) Thanks so much for

the support!

Stacee

> >Everyplace I've looked (I figured I'd go ahead and fill our Rx for

> >the bar) doesn't know

> >anything about an adjustable Dennis Brown Bar... Am I nuts and it

> >doesn't actually exist?

>

> lol, it exists.

>

> >Who makes/distributes the bar?

>

> Fillauer - Markell Shoe distributes it as well as some others that I

> don't know names of. It's red.

>

> >What sizes does it adjust from and to?

>

> Very small (lol, infant size - like 6 " ??) to about 14 " .

>

> > Do all the Markell

> >shoes work with the bar (eg when is 3-5 years old, if he's

> >(presumably) still in the

> >bar, will the required shoes to maintain correction still fit the

> >DBB?) One place said he'd

> >found 2 adjustable bars-- one 7-9 " and one 9-15 " ,

>

> These aren't exactly adjustable - if they're the ones with the three

> holes in each end. They're adjustable, just not infinitely

> so. Meaning you can go up one or two inch increments by moving the

> shoes to the outer holes but the bar itself is fixed. They make

> three like this, small, medium and large. There is also a gold

> adjustable bar that the shoe plates themselves are infinitely

> adjustable with. You slide the shoes out towards the end of the bar

> to adjust it. The bar itself also is a fixed length so when the

> shoes are at the narrower settings the bar sticks out beyond the

> shoes on the sides.

>

> >but the bigger straight last shoes made

> >by Markell only go up to roughly a size 4-5,

>

> They make the Markell shoes in sizes up to 8 now, and are likely

> going to be adding more sizes as older children are needing

> shoes. But yeah, size 8 is pretty big and should last through the

> 4th year easily.

>

> >which is much larger than the typical 3-5 yr old,

> >so we'd have a bar that would fit the shoulder width, but no shoes

> >to fit because they'd need

> >the plate that attaches to the shoe to attach to the bar. Since

> >I've never actually SEEN a DBB

> >in person, I have absolutely no clue what he's talking about, nor

> >what to ask!!

>

> have them contact Markell Shoe and order directly. Also, subscribe

> to the CFPics list and look in the photo library. There you will

> find pictures of the various different FAB bars and shoes.

>

> >ANY information would be GREATLY appreciated and helpful. I'm

> >supposed to go to a shoe

> >store specializing in Markells w/ the DBB on Friday to get this

> >rolling before the year end

> >(insurance benefit for the bar!!) so I'd like to go in fully informed!

>

> If you still need help contact Markell Shoe directly

> www.markellshoe.com and have them give you part numbers to take with

> you on Friday. It really should be easier for these orthotists to

> find these. Sounds like they're looking in a very old catalog or

> something because the website clearly states this information. On

> the Markell website, there's a .PDF about the 1644 shoes (called

> Ponseti in the title) with a sizing chart that is printable (make

> sure it's set at 100% when you print it in Adobe). It also shows and

> lists the various bars available. The Fillauer bar is what you're

> looking for though as it's the easiest to adjust. HOWEVER... I

> suggest that you start with the gold bar (either the adjustable or

> one of the fixed bars in 6 or 8 " depending on child's shoulders)

> because it's very easy to take the shoes off this bar and it really

> helps when you're learning to put the shoes on to have them

> completely removed from the bar. The Fillauer bar is nearly

> impossible to do this with (unless you've got 5 hands) if you remove

> the shoes themselves however you can take it apart at the clamps to

> achieve the same thing. It's a little more difficult and could wear

> out the clamps prematurely but that's a small price to pay for ease

> of applying the shoes properly. I can't suggest more that parents

> new to the FAB remove the shoes to put them on. It really could save

> lots of problems. Eventually you won't need to do this of

> course. We stopped taking the shoes off at about 5mo's old and

> haven't since.

>

> Kori

>

>

>

> >Thanks

> >Stacee

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi Stacee,

my daughter has worn the same red two-piece adjustable bar all the

years she's had it, the same one she got in Iowa as an infant. it's

been slightly widened over time as she has grown, with larger shoes

replacing the littler ones. The typical setting is about 70-75 for the

cf and no more than 45, sometimes as little as 25, for the non cf.

Here are two good sources with sections of info on bracing:

Global Health booklet

http://www.global-help.org/publications/cf-english.pdf

Ponseti Links, with a bracing section with pictures, links to Fillauer,

Markell, set up instructions, parent tips, etc.:

http://members.tripod.com/ponseti_links-ivil/

Congratulations on reaching this stage,

and Claire, age 5 1/2