Re: Chicago area docs?? Leaving St. Louis/Dobbs

[Guest guest]

Hi Jen

Well, you sound like you will be moving into my neck of the woods...I am in

Hampshire and it is about 15 minutes from the Sycamore/Dekalb area....It

probably will be very difficult to leave Dr. Dobbs as I hear from this group

that everyone seems to love him.... We have been seeing Dr. Lemke in Geneva and

have been very happy with her....she has trained with Dr. Ponseti and seems to

follow the Ponseti method as far as we can tell.... Our daughter is 1 1/2 and

started with her when she was first born... Avery's foot looks awesome and we

actually went to see Dr Ponseti in December just to make sure everything was

coming along as well as we thought... before she got to big we just wanted to

make sure that we were on the right track... so when they saw her foot they were

very impressed and the nurse said " we have a good one in Illinois " ...so that was

so comforting to know that we have had good treatment and that they were happy

with how she does her work.... she is a young

doctor but she seems to be very knowledgeable in what she does.... if you would

like more info please let me know....I can get the phone numbers for you for the

Ortho and the place where we get the shoes from which is in Naperville (then you

could call to ask all of your questions).... there are a couple of other

families that have been on here that have seen her also so maybe they will chime

in....so let me know when you are moving and if you aren't familiar with the

area hopefully I could give ya some helpful hints.... maybe we could even get

the kids together and meet up sometime!.....Good luck with everything!!!

wrote:

Any one have any experience with Chicago Ponseti trained docs? We may

be relocating this spring with husband's job to DeKalb/Sycamore area.

We are now in St. Louis area and seeing Dobbs, who I would love to

continue to have treat our daughter. I would not have a problem

driving back and forth for 3 month check-ups, but we are constantly

breaking our brace. Tonight I tore one of the straps off! We have also

had them come " unhinged " twice. I can't just stop and drive 5 hrs. to

an ortho lab everytime my daughter or I have a brace malfunction

(which happens to us pretty frequently).

I don't know if Chicago ortho can keep us in Dobb's Brace, or if we

would have to switch to another kind. Do they use the or

Markell style shoes? I would really hate to leave the Dobb's style

brace if I could help it. It would also be heart breaking to loose Dr.

Dobbs.

Let me know about your experiences in Chicago please-

Thanks!

Jen

Ava 1/18/02

Addie 8/2/04 BCF (Dobbs Brace 12/7)

[Guest guest]

,

I did see Dr. Lemke on the list, I think there was also one other

Doc in Chgo area. It is great to here your positive experience with

her, I would much rather deal with a doc that the people on this

board give thumbs up to, that is for sure! We started with non-

ponseti doc in St. Louis just because of our lack of education and

we trusted our refering doctors. We didn't start with Dobbs until

she was 8mos. One thing that is reassuring is that her feet are

corrected, and now I just need a Dr. to maintain her. It makes

switching a little easier if we do end up moving.

I am very familir with the area, but not sure where Hampshire is. I

am originally from Rockford and actually lived in DeKalb for 2 1/2

yrs. when I went to NIU. My husband may transfer to Waterman, just

15 min. south of DeKalb. We are not sure where we want to live yet.

I think schools in Sycamore look good- but it just might boil down

to where we find a house that works for us. I don't want to go to

far East of DeKalb, it starts getting pricey fast. Taxes are so damn

high in the area too. I kind of had sticker shock!

Well, everything is on hold right now. Hopefully we will hear

somthing in the next week or two. Not knowing if we are moving is

hard. I have been in this area for past 3 years and it is starting

to feel like home. So if we don't transfer, that would be fine. But,

if we move back north- we would be 45 min from both sets of

grandparents. My husband has a sister living in DeKalb too. It would

be so nice to be around family agian, esp. with 2 little girls.

Thanks for your response, it would be great to meet up if we do

move. It shounds like Avery and Addie are about the same age.

Jen

Ava 1/18/02

Addie 8/2/04 BCF (Dobbs brace 12/7)

> Any one have any experience with Chicago Ponseti trained docs?

We may

> be relocating this spring with husband's job to DeKalb/Sycamore

area.

> We are now in St. Louis area and seeing Dobbs, who I would love to

> continue to have treat our daughter. I would not have a problem

> driving back and forth for 3 month check-ups, but we are

constantly

> breaking our brace. Tonight I tore one of the straps off! We have

also

> had them come " unhinged " twice. I can't just stop and drive 5 hrs.

to

> an ortho lab everytime my daughter or I have a brace malfunction

> (which happens to us pretty frequently).

>

> I don't know if Chicago ortho can keep us in Dobb's Brace, or if

we

> would have to switch to another kind. Do they use the or

> Markell style shoes? I would really hate to leave the Dobb's

style

> brace if I could help it. It would also be heart breaking to loose

Dr.

> Dobbs.

>

> Let me know about your experiences in Chicago please-

> Thanks!

> Jen

> Ava 1/18/02

> Addie 8/2/04 BCF (Dobbs Brace 12/7)

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Jen,

If your insurance will allow it, maybe you could go directly to Iowa

City instead of Chicago. We live near Champaign and go to Dr.

Ponseti. It's worth the drive for us.

& (3-16-00, lcf)

[Guest guest]

Jen,

A couple thoughts for you on the brace situation if you end up

switching docs since it's unlikely that you'd be able to get the Dobbs

brace elsewhere (I know he is working on getting it more widely

available but I don't really know the status of that right now).

Anyway, what you said about them coming " unhinged " , did the rivet/bolt

that holds at the pivot point break? Sammy's broke like that 3 times,

and then finally Dave (the orthotist at Children's) ended up replacing

it with a steel rivet that has not broken since. Also, if this breaks

you can rig it with a nut and bolt (cover the end of the bolt with a

wire nut) until you can get to an orthotist. You could probably find

an orthotist in Chicago who could service the brace since all the

parts are things that orthotists generally use, you'd just have to go

back to St. Louis if you needed a new shoe molded (when these are

outgrown). The other thing you might consider is trying the Markell

shoes with the articulating bar, then you wouldn't even have to worry

about getting new shoes molded. We use the Markells with Dobbs' bar

and love it.

Hope this helps,

>

> Any one have any experience with Chicago Ponseti trained docs? We may

> be relocating this spring with husband's job to DeKalb/Sycamore area.

> We are now in St. Louis area and seeing Dobbs, who I would love to

> continue to have treat our daughter. I would not have a problem

> driving back and forth for 3 month check-ups, but we are constantly

> breaking our brace. Tonight I tore one of the straps off! We have also

> had them come " unhinged " twice. I can't just stop and drive 5 hrs. to

> an ortho lab everytime my daughter or I have a brace malfunction

> (which happens to us pretty frequently).

>

> I don't know if Chicago ortho can keep us in Dobb's Brace, or if we

> would have to switch to another kind. Do they use the or

> Markell style shoes? I would really hate to leave the Dobb's style

> brace if I could help it. It would also be heart breaking to loose Dr.

> Dobbs.

>

> Let me know about your experiences in Chicago please-

> Thanks!

> Jen

> Ava 1/18/02

> Addie 8/2/04 BCF (Dobbs Brace 12/7)

>

[Guest guest]

,

Addie has twice had the brace come apart on her where the AFO is

bolted to the bar. It ends up looking like the scene from Forest

Gump where the hardware from the brace goes flying as Forest runs

thorough the woods! They did switch the type of bolt 2 mos ago and

it has helped. She kept stripping out the first type. When my

husband brought the brace into the ortho lab (them main one on

Marshall Ave.) the guy asked him if Addie was walking in them. My

husband looked at him and said " What do you think?? Could you walk

with this?? " !!

We also tend to rip straps off of the AFO's. We just had a few of

the straps replaced today, so hopefully we will be good for a while.

So far this year, we have had to go to the lab once a month for

repairs. I work Tuesdays on the corner of Hanley and Manchester, 3

min from the lab, so it is not so bad if it breaks on a weekend or

Monday!

That is a good idea to use the Markell's with the brace if we do

move. I guess we will just have to cross that bridge and make some

decisions if we come to it. It is hard to sit and wait. Everything

is kind of " on hold " until we find out if we stay or go. Hopefully

we will know in the next week or two.

Once again- thanks for your advice.

Jen

> >

> > Any one have any experience with Chicago Ponseti trained docs?

We may

> > be relocating this spring with husband's job to DeKalb/Sycamore

area.

> > We are now in St. Louis area and seeing Dobbs, who I would love

to

> > continue to have treat our daughter. I would not have a problem

> > driving back and forth for 3 month check-ups, but we are

constantly

> > breaking our brace. Tonight I tore one of the straps off! We

have also

> > had them come " unhinged " twice. I can't just stop and drive 5

hrs. to

> > an ortho lab everytime my daughter or I have a brace malfunction

> > (which happens to us pretty frequently).

> >

> > I don't know if Chicago ortho can keep us in Dobb's Brace, or if

we

> > would have to switch to another kind. Do they use the

or

> > Markell style shoes? I would really hate to leave the Dobb's

style

> > brace if I could help it. It would also be heart breaking to

loose Dr.

> > Dobbs.

> >

> > Let me know about your experiences in Chicago please-

> > Thanks!

> > Jen

> > Ava 1/18/02

> > Addie 8/2/04 BCF (Dobbs Brace 12/7)

> >

>