Re: Thankyou! - Just started Ponseti method and need reassurance

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathy

Its been so wonderful to get all this reassurance from parents out there that

the Ponseti method has worked for their children. And that starting it late

doesnt mean its too late!

Im from Australia (just north of Sydney NSW) and we see an Ortho and Physio at

Westmead Childrens Hospital (Sydney). We were going to Hunter Hospital

at Newcastle.

There are so many informative clubfoot websites around the world, however its

been disappointing that I could find no up to date Australian sites for club

foot that detailed the Ponseti method. I wonder if their are any other

Australian parents out there who have gone through my experience?

We see our new physio in 2 days to take off the first " Ponseti " cast. Looking

forward to it. I just cry when I think what we were going to put our little man

through with the " full release " surgery that was planned. We really thought

this was the only way.

Thanks everyone for your reassurance and I think we will be regular

contributors to this group.

Manda

(Mum of , 6 months, left CF and 2 1/2 years)

Kathy Bruce wrote:

Hi Manda

Welcome to the group and I'm glad you found out about the Ponseti method before

it was too late.

The method is fantastic, our son had very severe (scored 6/6 on both feet on the

ratings) clubfoot but he's now 14 months old and his feet are fully corrected.

He wears the boots and bars for night and naptimes and the rest of the time he's

racing around like any other baby.

Although the method calls for parents to ensure boots and bars are worn at

nighttimes until they are at least 4 this really isn't a big deal. I can't

actually believe how unworried by it all our son is and I think 4 years of a bit

more effort now is worth it compared to a life where our son could have very

painful and crippling feet due to surgery.

I would also add it is really important to get the right Ponseti doctor to treat

your son's feet. Since you are starting slightly later than normal with the

method you don't really want to waste time by getting a doctor who doesn't quite

do thing properly. Our son was first treated by our local hospital who had ust

started offering the Ponseti method (our son was actually their first child they

treated) and unfortunatley due to their lack of experience they just couldn't

correct his feet enough so when he was 5 month old we transfered to a fully

certified and highly recommended (via this group) Ponseti doctor who changed our

sons life completely and who we will always be grateful to for fully correcting

our son's clubfeet.

Although you are starting the Ponseti method at 6 months you shouldn't really

have any problems as many parents in this group have found the method at a later

date and their children's feet are great.

Where abouts in the world are you and which doctor are you planning to use for

your son's treatment? If you don't mind letting us know I'm sure someone can

tell you if your doctor / hospital is considered good at correcting clubfoot.

Also any other questions, just ask. The parents that are part of this group

really are some of the most intelligent and highly educated parents you will

ever find with regards to clubfoot. They helped me find my son the best

possible treatment and it's really down to them that everything has turned out

OK now.

Kathy:)

mandaneen wrote: Hi

We have a six month old son who has moderate left foot talipes. We

were about to undertake full release surgery when on seeking a second

opinion we were recommended the Ponseti method of treatment. What a

wonderful surprise to find out there is an alternative way.

We are now starting the Ponseti method through a new Ortho and physio.

I'd really like to hear from parents that have been through this method

of treatment and what the results were like.

Much appreciated

manda

[Guest guest]

Hi Manda,

I know for sure that there are some parents on here from Oz as I'm sure I've

seen other messages. Hopefully they will see your message and get in touch. If

not just put a message up with a title about looking for Australian parents and

I'm sure someone will notice it.

The other option is to look through the group database, you have to actually log

onto Yahoo and click on groups, then click on nosurgery4clubfoot group. Someone

a while back set up a database in the database part for group members to say

where they are from and where they get treated. You never know you might even

find someone who goes to teh same hospital! (sorry I've just had a quick look

for you and most other Oz parents seem to be from Melbourne!)

Another option is to ask at your hospital and see if they would be willing to

ask other parents if they wouldnt mind meeting up with you or speaking to you on

the phone or via email and having a chat about things in the longer term. When I

went to my local hospital we all used to turn up for our Ponseti casting on a

Monday and it was great as I got to know most of the other parents that were

going through this at the same time.

When we move to our current doctor that was even better as I met parents with

children who were further along in the process and I could actually see the

results our doctor was getting with my own eyes. The other lovely thing was hear

about other poeple who had been in nearly exactly the same position and how

everything was working out fine.

Another option is to look through the photo files linked to this site or apply

to join cfpics group and we can all send you photos of our chidren's lovely

feet! If nothing else and you were willing to let me have your personal email

address I could send you photos of our son's feet throughout his treatment.

Hope this helps

Kathy

Janine wrote: Hi Kathy

Its been so wonderful to get all this reassurance from parents out there that

the Ponseti method has worked for their children. And that starting it late

doesnt mean its too late!

Im from Australia (just north of Sydney NSW) and we see an Ortho and Physio

at Westmead Childrens Hospital (Sydney). We were going to Hunter

Hospital at Newcastle.

There are so many informative clubfoot websites around the world, however its

been disappointing that I could find no up to date Australian sites for club

foot that detailed the Ponseti method. I wonder if their are any other

Australian parents out there who have gone through my experience?

We see our new physio in 2 days to take off the first " Ponseti " cast.

Looking forward to it. I just cry when I think what we were going to put our

little man through with the " full release " surgery that was planned. We really

thought this was the only way.

Thanks everyone for your reassurance and I think we will be regular

contributors to this group.

Manda

(Mum of , 6 months, left CF and 2 1/2 years)

Kathy Bruce wrote:

Hi Manda

Welcome to the group and I'm glad you found out about the Ponseti method before

it was too late.

The method is fantastic, our son had very severe (scored 6/6 on both feet on

the ratings) clubfoot but he's now 14 months old and his feet are fully

corrected. He wears the boots and bars for night and naptimes and the rest of

the time he's racing around like any other baby.

Although the method calls for parents to ensure boots and bars are worn at

nighttimes until they are at least 4 this really isn't a big deal. I can't

actually believe how unworried by it all our son is and I think 4 years of a bit

more effort now is worth it compared to a life where our son could have very

painful and crippling feet due to surgery.

I would also add it is really important to get the right Ponseti doctor to

treat your son's feet. Since you are starting slightly later than normal with

the method you don't really want to waste time by getting a doctor who doesn't

quite do thing properly. Our son was first treated by our local hospital who had

ust started offering the Ponseti method (our son was actually their first child

they treated) and unfortunatley due to their lack of experience they just

couldn't correct his feet enough so when he was 5 month old we transfered to a

fully certified and highly recommended (via this group) Ponseti doctor who

changed our sons life completely and who we will always be grateful to for fully

correcting our son's clubfeet.

Although you are starting the Ponseti method at 6 months you shouldn't really

have any problems as many parents in this group have found the method at a later

date and their children's feet are great.

Where abouts in the world are you and which doctor are you planning to use for

your son's treatment? If you don't mind letting us know I'm sure someone can

tell you if your doctor / hospital is considered good at correcting clubfoot.

Also any other questions, just ask. The parents that are part of this group

really are some of the most intelligent and highly educated parents you will

ever find with regards to clubfoot. They helped me find my son the best

possible treatment and it's really down to them that everything has turned out

OK now.

Kathy:)

mandaneen wrote: Hi

We have a six month old son who has moderate left foot talipes. We

were about to undertake full release surgery when on seeking a second

opinion we were recommended the Ponseti method of treatment. What a

wonderful surprise to find out there is an alternative way.

We are now starting the Ponseti method through a new Ortho and physio.

I'd really like to hear from parents that have been through this method

of treatment and what the results were like.

Much appreciated

manda

[Guest guest]

Manda,

There are a few Aussie families here (and one from NZ too!), and I

hope you'll be able to connect with them. I was told that the yahoo

group for Australian clubfoot families, Austfoot, was defunct now,

unfortunately. You can hang out here with us, though, and other Oz

folk are sure to pop in occasionally.

There may also be some Australian families on the UK-based STEPS

charity clubfoot forum.

We're happy that you're here and very happy that you were able to

avoid the PMR surgery for !

& (3-16-00, left clubfoot, switched to Ponseti method at 4

mo. old, http://ponseticlubfoot.freeservers.com)