Caleb's Ponseti Checkup

[Guest guest]

It took us 2300 miles to get peace of mind but we now have it. We

saw Dr. Ponsti last Friday and as Caleb would tell you " He has good

news and Bad news! " His good news is that he did not need another

cast or surgery at this time, but his bad news is that he has to wear

his brace another year. He turned 3 in March and we were hoping that

he would be done with the brace. His right foot is turning in some

and is very noticable when he is walking. Our local Ortho Dr. said

he felt it was tibial rotation and wanted to try a differnt type of

brace. Dr. Ponseti did not agree and felt that it was coming from

the foot and not the tibia. His left foot is great and Dr. P feels

that the brace should keep the right foot from getting worse. He did

say that Caleb may need a tendon transfer later, but wants to wait

and watch for now and continue with the brace 12hours per night. It

helped for Caleb to hear Dr.P say this to him face to face. I know

he is only 3, but he really listened to him and is not as fussy about

it for now. We probably should have video taped it so we could play

it again for him at a later date. WE are still hopefull that with

another year in the brace that he will not need the tendon transfer.

Some of the problems with the right foot were caused by the 1st Dr.

we used here that did the first several below the knee fiberglass

casts that slipped off soon after they were put on. They did more

damage than good.

It was nice seeing Dr.Ponseti and our friends at the

Mc house again. We even had time for a quick trip to the

Children's Museum and our favorite " Steak -n - Shake!!! " (we don't

have one here in Savannah) We made a vacation out of our trip and

stayed a few days at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas, it was totally

awesome!!!! We have got to quit watching the travel channel!!!

We did meet another family that posts here and two other Ponseti

babies while we were in Iowa. We are so thankful for the Dr.

Ponseti, the RMH, and all the friends we have meet through this group

that got us through some rough times!!!

and Caleb 3-31-01