Re: Looking for other patients of Dr. Dobbs

May 2, 2006

jennie billhartz wrote: My son, Evan, is 5 months and

has atypcial club feet as well. We live in St. Louis and see Dr. Dobbs who

studied under Dr. P and uses his method. We got through the casting phase last

week and moved on to the brace. Unfortunately, he developed a nasty sore on the

top of his foot and the brace had to come off. Evan is a twin and pretty small

(only 9.5-10 lbs) and we knew his size might present a problem with the brace.

The good news is that the casting worked very well to correct his feet, we just

have to hold off on the braces until he grows a bit. He will go back in casts

in the meantime. Even with these complications, we still think Dr. P's

non-surgical approach is best. Good luck!!

If anyone out there has a child with atypical club feet, is familiar with Dr.

Dobbs' brace and has had similar issues I describe above, please let me know. I

am struggling a bit with all of this and feel like we did something wrong

costing us some time. We think part of the problem was the fit of the socks we

used - they have to fit perfectly in the brace; any wrinkle can cause blisters

and sores. I had a lot of trouble finding socks to fit my little guy. I

thought I found something and then the sores got worse. Anyway, just looking

for anyone out there that has had similar experiences.

Jennie

needing prayers wrote:

What a wonderful decision to go see Dr. Ponseti. Good for you for

investigating the whole clubfoot thing and finding this group. Thank goodness

Dr. P was discovered before the surgery.

danaandfamily wrote: Hi everyone,

My son Luke is 5 months old. He has bilateral club foot. He started

casting after the second day of birth. When Luke was born it was two

days before Thanksgiving. Therefore we had to wait a couple days

before an orthapedic could come and tell us what was wrong with Lukes

feet. The hospital kept me for three nights. Finaly an Orthapedic doc

came, Told us Luke has a 95% chance he will not need surgery. That

made us happy. The doc says it can be fixed. he explained that

castings needed to be done. We had no Idea about clubfoot, I can say

the doctor made us feel so much better telling us the things he said,

it relaxed us to much. Anyways; We were doing castings every week.

The doctor told us his feet are doing wonderfull. We are more than

50% there! That made us feel good. Then the last cast will stay on

for 3 Weeks. Well, when we went in to take off the 3 week cast this

is when things were not going so good anymore. The doc said his feet

are not getting better and he will need surgery. We were so

disapointed. We believed for so many weeks our son was doing great.

They put more casts on him for two weeks while we waited for his

braces. The doc also says he wants to do surgey when he is 9 months

old. We got the braces, we hate the braces! We cant keep them on his

feet the right way. Anyways this is about the time I start to

investigate clubfoot. We decide to go get a second opinion 3 hours

away from us. This doc says posterior release as soon as possible. We

set the date. 1 week later I joined nosurgery4clubfoot. I recieved

info on how to talk with doc Ponseti. I sent him an e mail of Lukes

feet. Dr Ponseti says Luke has aytipical clubfoot. He also says to

come see him in Iowa. My husband and us are going. After all the good

things I hear about his work, I would be crazy not to. We leave

thursday. Northern California to Iowa we go. Our appointment is on

May 8th. I will post U all soon. Thanks for all the good info. And

good luck to us all. Luke's Mommy. Dana

May 2, 2006

Jennie,

I would think that Evan could go into the Ponseti/ brace

right now. I think perhaps there was some confusion on the nurse's

part in telling you that the P/M brace has a " window " ....perhaps she

was referring to the Markell shoes (the standard FAB is the Markell

shoes on a bar) that have a hole in the back of them. The Markell

shoes are not recommended typically for babies with a-typical feet.

They don't hold the foot as well as the P/M brace, which is more

like a Birkenstock sandal in design.

I know that you can get the P/M brace through Dr. Dobbs office,

you'd have to specifically ask for it, though, and work with them,

because it's made by MD Orthopaedics in Iowa City, not something

that can be fabricated in St. Louis. Or you could order it directly

from at MD Orthopaedics. This way he could go into

the brace as soon as his sores are healed up and not have to sit in

holding casts for too long.

I know you'll get more feedback from the families who are using the

shoes (P/M brace) and Dobbs' patients. Just wanted to

chime in here quickly for you.

There's information here under the bracing section:

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

Best wishes,

& (3-16-00, left clubfoot)

Hi everyone,

> My son Luke is 5 months old. He has bilateral club foot. He

started

> casting after the second day of birth. When Luke was born it was

two

> days before Thanksgiving. Therefore we had to wait a couple days

> before an orthapedic could come and tell us what was wrong with

Lukes

> feet. The hospital kept me for three nights. Finaly an Orthapedic

doc

> came, Told us Luke has a 95% chance he will not need surgery. That

> made us happy. The doc says it can be fixed. he explained that

> castings needed to be done. We had no Idea about clubfoot, I can

say

> the doctor made us feel so much better telling us the things he

said,

> it relaxed us to much. Anyways; We were doing castings every week.

> The doctor told us his feet are doing wonderfull. We are more than

> 50% there! That made us feel good. Then the last cast will stay on

> for 3 Weeks. Well, when we went in to take off the 3 week cast

this

> is when things were not going so good anymore. The doc said his

feet

> are not getting better and he will need surgery. We were so

> disapointed. We believed for so many weeks our son was doing

great.

> They put more casts on him for two weeks while we waited for his

> braces. The doc also says he wants to do surgey when he is 9

months

> old. We got the braces, we hate the braces! We cant keep them on

his

> feet the right way. Anyways this is about the time I start to

> investigate clubfoot. We decide to go get a second opinion 3 hours

> away from us. This doc says posterior release as soon as possible.

We

> set the date. 1 week later I joined nosurgery4clubfoot. I recieved

> info on how to talk with doc Ponseti. I sent him an e mail of

Lukes

> feet. Dr Ponseti says Luke has aytipical clubfoot. He also says to

> come see him in Iowa. My husband and us are going. After all the

good

> things I hear about his work, I would be crazy not to. We leave

> thursday. Northern California to Iowa we go. Our appointment is on

> May 8th. I will post U all soon. Thanks for all the good info. And

> good luck to us all. Luke's Mommy. Dana

>

May 2, 2006

Yup. I'm getting the names of the braces confused. We have not been good at

educating ourselves on alternatives to Dr. Dobbs approach, until now when we are

faced with the possibility that his brace won't work for Evan. did

talk about the " Birkenstock " type brace/the brace as a possible

alternative for us. We will be talking with Dr. Dobbs more next Tuesday about

all of this and our alternatives. I want to get more information for myself so

I have a better idea what's out there and what questions to ask.

Thanks very much!!

Jennie

jennyandkelly wrote:

Jennie,

I would think that Evan could go into the Ponseti/ brace

right now. I think perhaps there was some confusion on the nurse's

part in telling you that the P/M brace has a " window " ....perhaps she

was referring to the Markell shoes (the standard FAB is the Markell

shoes on a bar) that have a hole in the back of them. The Markell

shoes are not recommended typically for babies with a-typical feet.

They don't hold the foot as well as the P/M brace, which is more

like a Birkenstock sandal in design.

I know that you can get the P/M brace through Dr. Dobbs office,

you'd have to specifically ask for it, though, and work with them,

because it's made by MD Orthopaedics in Iowa City, not something

that can be fabricated in St. Louis. Or you could order it directly

from at MD Orthopaedics. This way he could go into

the brace as soon as his sores are healed up and not have to sit in

holding casts for too long.

I know you'll get more feedback from the families who are using the

shoes (P/M brace) and Dobbs' patients. Just wanted to

chime in here quickly for you.

There's information here under the bracing section:

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

Best wishes,

& (3-16-00, left clubfoot)

Hi everyone,

> My son Luke is 5 months old. He has bilateral club foot. He

started

> casting after the second day of birth. When Luke was born it was

two

> days before Thanksgiving. Therefore we had to wait a couple days

> before an orthapedic could come and tell us what was wrong with

Lukes

> feet. The hospital kept me for three nights. Finaly an Orthapedic

doc

> came, Told us Luke has a 95% chance he will not need surgery. That

> made us happy. The doc says it can be fixed. he explained that

> castings needed to be done. We had no Idea about clubfoot, I can

say

> the doctor made us feel so much better telling us the things he

said,

> it relaxed us to much. Anyways; We were doing castings every week.

> The doctor told us his feet are doing wonderfull. We are more than

> 50% there! That made us feel good. Then the last cast will stay on

> for 3 Weeks. Well, when we went in to take off the 3 week cast

this

> is when things were not going so good anymore. The doc said his

feet

> are not getting better and he will need surgery. We were so

> disapointed. We believed for so many weeks our son was doing

great.

> They put more casts on him for two weeks while we waited for his

> braces. The doc also says he wants to do surgey when he is 9

months

> old. We got the braces, we hate the braces! We cant keep them on

his

> feet the right way. Anyways this is about the time I start to

> investigate clubfoot. We decide to go get a second opinion 3 hours

> away from us. This doc says posterior release as soon as possible.

We

> set the date. 1 week later I joined nosurgery4clubfoot. I recieved

> info on how to talk with doc Ponseti. I sent him an e mail of

Lukes

> feet. Dr Ponseti says Luke has aytipical clubfoot. He also says to

> come see him in Iowa. My husband and us are going. After all the

good

> things I hear about his work, I would be crazy not to. We leave

> thursday. Northern California to Iowa we go. Our appointment is on

> May 8th. I will post U all soon. Thanks for all the good info. And

> good luck to us all. Luke's Mommy. Dana

>

May 2, 2006

Jennie,

We see Dr Dobbs at Shriner's. Mollie was five months old when she went into

the brace. Her atypical feet were very short and fat and we had trouble with

the dobbs brace so they started us with markells and the red adjustable bar. We

didn't really have much trouble with it, and I actually like it better. After

her feet grew some we were able to transition her to the dobbe=s brace. Also we

put two pairs if socks on her. First a pair of slightly thick snug fitting sock

(put on wrong side out to keep the fuzzy side off her) then a pair of old navy

socks over that. In the beginning the 0-6 month socks were too big, but after

we put the shoes on we pull on the toes of the socks to keep the extra sock from

being bunched up in her shoe. Hope that helps some. really, I think it's a

matter of trying lots of different things till you find what works best for you

and your little one. Are you still in the 23 hrs a day? We liked to take them

off three times a day for 20 min

to check for redness, sore, and to change sweaty socks.

Marci & Mollie 5-25-05

bcf dobbs brace 16/7

jennie billhartz wrote: