Re: Emailed Dr.Ponsetti and confused by his email

January 3, 2003

What he said is what I was told.

& Breanna

" mikeleslie2930 wrote:I emailed

Dr.Ponsetti about a doctor in Ky who does the ponsetti

method, he told me about one and said that since Isabella is in the

DBB the doctor could do followup. He also stated that Isabella should

be in the bar for 23 hours for 3 months which i knew that and then 18

hours a day until she walks. Now i didn't know it had to be 18 hours

until she walked i thought it would go down to 14-16 hours by then,

then he said after she started walking she could go nightly until she

is 3 years old. So my question is, is this new? For those who are

seeing Dr.Ponsetti himself were they told this? Here is a copy of

the email:

January 3, 2002

Dear Mrs. :

Dr. Vishwas Talwalkar at the Shriners Hospital, 1900 Richmond Road,

Lexington, KY 400502, phone 606 266-2101,

e-mail vtalwalkar@... is reportedly using my technique. I

don't know if he is following it completely, but since your daughter

is already in the DBB, I think he can see her in follow up. I would

recommend that she continue to wear the DBB until she is three years

old. Initially she should wear it 23 hours a day for 3 months and

then at night and naptime for a total of 18 hours a day until she

starts to walk and then about 14-16 hours a day until age 3. Many

physicians and parents feel it is safe to discontinue use of the

brace earlier, but we have found there is a very high likelihood of

recurrence if the brace is discontinued too soon. She should be

followed every 4-6 months.

I.V.Ponseti, M.D.

January 3, 2003

,

First off, let me say that my son Jakob doesn't see Dr. Ponseti

directly, so our experience has been quite different from other families

on this aspect. When Jakob first went into his DBB at 8 weeks old

(4/1998), we were told to leave it on all the time except for bath

time. We pretty much did take it off for no more than an hour in the

evening whether or not he got a bath. I know there were some days that

we didn't take it off at all since my mom had made him some pajamas from

toddler size t-shirts so they'd snap between his legs. At the first

follow up after he went into the DBB (6/1998), we started our very slow

process of decreasing the time in the brace. The first week, we took

the brace off for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening. The

second week, we took it off for 2 hours each morning and evening. It

went this way for 5 weeks until it was " nap time and bed time " (14 hours

a day). At our next follow up (9/1998), Dr. Weinstein told us we didn't

have to be slaves to the clock as we had been and to make sure he wore

it especially for bedtime and a couple hours in the middle of the day

(since he didn't nap on a specific schedule). I got to a point a few

months after the next follow up (3/1999) that putting the DBB on during

the day wasn't easy unless I carried it everywhere we went, so we

stopped putting it on during the day when Jakob was about 16-17 months

old. Jakob started walking completely on his own just shy of 19 months

and he wore his DBB at bedtime up until September 2001 (at 3 years 7

months). He'll turn 5 on February 9 and his feet are doing great.

Like I said, our experience was really different and the best thing I

can suggest is to follow the instructions you are given by the ortho you

decide to take Isabella to. This is one of those areas where different

doctors have very different opinions. I hope this helps.

" mikeleslie2930 " wrote:

> I emailed Dr.Ponsetti about a doctor in Ky who does the ponsetti

> method, he told me about one and said that since Isabella is in the

> DBB the doctor could do followup. He also stated that Isabella should

> be in the bar for 23 hours for 3 months which i knew that and then 18

> hours a day until she walks. Now i didn't know it had to be 18 hours

> until she walked i thought it would go down to 14-16 hours by then,

> then he said after she started walking she could go nightly until she

> is 3 years old. So my question is, is this new? For those who are

> seeing Dr.Ponsetti himself were they told this? Here is a copy of

> the email:

>

> January 3, 2002

>

> Dear Mrs. :

>

> Dr. Vishwas Talwalkar at the Shriners Hospital, 1900 Richmond Road,

> Lexington, KY 400502, phone 606 266-2101,

> e-mail vtalwalkar@... is reportedly using my technique. I

> don't know if he is following it completely, but since your daughter

> is already in the DBB, I think he can see her in follow up. I would

> recommend that she continue to wear the DBB until she is three years

> old. Initially she should wear it 23 hours a day for 3 months and

> then at night and naptime for a total of 18 hours a day until she

> starts to walk and then about 14-16 hours a day until age 3. Many

> physicians and parents feel it is safe to discontinue use of the

> brace earlier, but we have found there is a very high likelihood of

> recurrence if the brace is discontinued too soon. She should be

> followed every 4-6 months.

>

> I.V.Ponseti, M.D.

January 3, 2003