Re: Falling down and flat feet update: ander

[Guest guest]

,

I'm sorry about Al's appointment and the issues that you're trying

to identify/resolve. Hang in there!

I knew a little boy with Perthes. My understanding is that it is a

congenital degenerative disease, and would not be affiliated with

the brace wear. If anything, I think the brace wear might actually

slow the progression of the Perthes since there would be less

movement in the ball and socket. I asked Dr. Ponseti one time

(after a physiotherapist noticed her hyperabducted knees) if wearing

the brace could cause other issues with the ankles, knees or hips

and he told me that he knew of no complications and hadn't seen it

happen (and he's probably got the largest clientele).

If I were you, I would email Naomi Davies straight away. I don't

know what is standard protocol when there is a potential diagnosis

of Perthes, but I do know that they will want to immobilize the

joint to halt the deterioration of the ball. Maybe you shouldn't be

waiting 6 more months to address it again. I don't know...but I

found this site for you: http://www.perthes.org.uk/english.html

The little boy that I knew wore his immobilizing brace at age 4 at

my daughter's daycare (he had a wheelchair, but preferred to get

around on his hands and swing his feet). I don't know how long he

was in it, but I know that eventually they licked it and he was just

fine.

About the flat feet, I would also consult with Dr. Davies or Dr.

Ponseti. I know lots of adults with flat feet who have no pain, so

it's not necessarily a *bad* thing, but I don't know if there's any

way to tell if it will end up causing pain or not. I'm not exactly

sure how the abduction relates to the arch.

I would suggest getting opinions from a few different doctors and

then take their various comments and figure out how you want to move

forward. We're here to listen when you need to vent!

Hugs-

>

> Hi well we had a bit of a sad visit with the Consultant. We

discussed

> the fact that seems to fall down at the drop of a hat and

> has been complaining of back and knee pain. In fact the last few

days

> he's been walking straight legged with his right leg.

>

> Anyway Al had an X-ray and it turned out that he may have Perthes

so

> we have to go back in 6 months for a further X-Ray and to see

what is

> happening. It may be a red herring apparently but it was clear to

me

> that one hip was quite different to the other one. I now feel

> dreadful that I wasn't more insistent 6 months ago. Al is also

going

> to be fitted with supports to ensure his knee, ankle alignment is

as

> it should be. I'm not daft though, it was clear to me that our

> Consultant thinks Al has Perthes.

>

> It is probably very unlikely this will be the case but is anyone

else

> a parent or carer of a child with c.f. and perthes - ideally

following

> Ponseti method please? It would be good to know what effect if any

> the brace has on the hip.

>

> Re. the flat feet - well apparently these are just as back as a

> clubfoot and our Consultant has seen evidence that the arch has

been

> over stretched. We didn't discuss reducing the abduction but like

the

> rest of you reading this I now feel torn between the devil and the

> deep blue sea. Namely if you reduce the angle to 40 or 50 degrees

say

> does this mean that the incidence of relapse is higher? Which is

the

> more difficult to treat - flat foot or clubfoot. Whoever said this

> was simple should be shot in my humble opinion, and frankly I'm

sick

> of people glibly saying of that simple to treat isn't it. {thanks

for

> listening, moan over }

>

>

> Mum to the very gorgeous, cheeky monkey

> d.o.b 10Dec03 Bilateral c.f.

>

[Guest guest]

Hiya

Thanks for your posting and words of encouragement, I really

appreciate your support.

I have had more time to think and do more research since I posted and

yes I agree that the brace will help. As you would expect we are

really keeping everything crossed this is not Perthes.

Al has still got good movement in his hip and Mr Rehm said the X-Ray

could be a red herring and not to worry about it. I am really glad he

has warned us though as I would much rather have time to gather some

information first.

If I have any doubts or concerns we have been invited to get in touch

and go back to Addenbrookes. I know Naomi is really good, as you may

remember we've been up a few times. I am very happy that " our Mr

Rehm " is very competent and I know we are in good hands. I'm a

dreadful critic so if I had any concerns I would be off to Iowa if

necessary If I feel in any way that Al's movement is reducing I'll

be up there before you can jack rabbit.

How is doing? I can't keep up with this message board so I only

eaves drop when I can.

I'm going to do some more research on the flat foot thing so I can ask

the right questions. I've visitors next week and have loads of other

things on up to this point. Its all a bit of a balancing job isn't it

- we all know about that

All the best

I'll keep you posted.

> >

> > Hi well we had a bit of a sad visit with the Consultant. We

> discussed

> > the fact that seems to fall down at the drop of a hat and

> > has been complaining of back and knee pain. In fact the last few

> days

> > he's been walking straight legged with his right leg.

> >

> > Anyway Al had an X-ray and it turned out that he may have Perthes

> so

> > we have to go back in 6 months for a further X-Ray and to see

> what is

> > happening. It may be a red herring apparently but it was clear to

> me

> > that one hip was quite different to the other one. I now feel

> > dreadful that I wasn't more insistent 6 months ago. Al is also

> going

> > to be fitted with supports to ensure his knee, ankle alignment is

> as

> > it should be. I'm not daft though, it was clear to me that our

> > Consultant thinks Al has Perthes.

> >

> > It is probably very unlikely this will be the case but is anyone

> else

> > a parent or carer of a child with c.f. and perthes - ideally

> following

> > Ponseti method please? It would be good to know what effect if any

> > the brace has on the hip.

> >

> > Re. the flat feet - well apparently these are just as back as a

> > clubfoot and our Consultant has seen evidence that the arch has

> been

> > over stretched. We didn't discuss reducing the abduction but like

> the

> > rest of you reading this I now feel torn between the devil and the

> > deep blue sea. Namely if you reduce the angle to 40 or 50 degrees

> say

> > does this mean that the incidence of relapse is higher? Which is

> the

> > more difficult to treat - flat foot or clubfoot. Whoever said this

> > was simple should be shot in my humble opinion, and frankly I'm

> sick

> > of people glibly saying of that simple to treat isn't it. {thanks

> for

> > listening, moan over }

> >

> >

> > Mum to the very gorgeous, cheeky monkey

> > d.o.b 10Dec03 Bilateral c.f.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

,

I'm glad you're not in a panic about the Perthes and I certainly hope

that it all ends up a " red herring " ! Do keep us posted on how

it's going! Did Mr. Rehm diagnose any calf weakness or find anything

unusual about Al's ankle/joint structure?

is doing fine, thanks for asking! She's grown like a weed this

past year- very tall and slender. She's just finishing up

kindergarten- and I can hardly believe it!

Good to hear from you!