Re: Kaitlin

[Guest guest]

,

We are in Atlanta and go to Pediatric Orthopaedists at Children's

Healthcare of Atlanta at ish Rite. They practice the Ponseti

Method. Maybe you could make a trip down here. I know it is a bit

of a treck, but maybe you could get to the bottom of the problem.

Our dr. is on Ponseti's list, along with two others in his group. I

have found some variances in his application of the method and will

explain the differences we have found in his treatment.

He used soft casts - I have read this is done by other Ponseti drs

and has been deemed to be OK by dr. P.

He did his tenotomy in the O.R. - some of the other drs. in the group

do it in office, but he prefers o.r.

He prescribed Reverse Last shoes - I asked the question on this board

back on May 26th about reverse last vs. straight last if you want to

read the comments from parents. Jay Markell commented in detail on

degrees of settings, etc. if you would like to read it.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/nosurgery4clubfoot/message/21621

He requests FAB for 23/7 until crawling - We go back on July 14th and

I will see what he says then. I have not decided if I am going to

protest or not. It may not be necessary to be in them 23/7 until she

crawls, but at least he is not prescribing less time. It is also

something I can control, so, if per Dr. P's protocal it goes to 18

hours at 3 months I may cut the hours back somewhat on my own.

If you would like to read more about our doctor, here is a link to

his info. He came highly recommended by our Ped and my OBGYN.

http://www.choa.org/ourservices/orthopaedics/team/morrissy.asp?id=1344

Keep us posted on Kaitlin,

Louisa and Zoe 2-22-04

Right Unilateral Clubfoot

> Hi Everyone,

> Kaitlin slept in her DBB last night...I gave her Tylenol and

she slept

> with me since my bed is softer and it doesn't seem to put as much

pressure on

> her heel. (We have tried using a pillow under her feet in the

past, without

> success.) I was at work this morning when my husband took the

shoes off- I

> had to leave at 4am, no way I was going to wake her up! He said

her right heel

> was red were the old sore was, but not too bad. He left the DBB

off for the

> day to try to prevent another sore. I can still see where it

rubbed a new red

> spot though.

> We figure that even if her heel does wiggle, it can't wiggle too

much if she

> is still like she is when she is asleep... He tried to put the AFO

on her

> clubfoot during the day so it wouldn't be left unbraced. (We are

still in the

> 23/7 period of wear.) Once again her leg was BRIGHT red in less

than an hour.

> I am going to call the brace shop on Friday when I am off of work

and see

> what I can work out with them because it does not do what they said

and it is way

> too tight. I am starting to notice her foot slightly turning

back in

> again...big bummer. Her doctor probably won't cast it again, even

if I took her

> back. He is not very aggressive- he actually told me that we could

just leave

> her foot unbraced and " watch to see what happens. " He is not a

Ponseti

> certified doc, although he does refer to and " follow " the method.

The only Ponseti

> doc in our area is through a clinic that you have to be refered to

and they

> won't give appts. They just say come on Monday between 1-4 b/c that

is when they

> see CF babies. We would have to have a referral from our current

ortho and I

> hate to switch to a doc that we couldn't see if we needed something

on a day

> other than a Monday. The whole thing seems bizarre to me- is

anyone else's

> doctor like that?

> I believe that the brace shop we go to kind of sucks, since they

are the ones

> that screwed up her first bar (the bar was a lot shorter than her

shoulders).

> I don't know what to do, one would think that in the big city of

Charlotte,

> NC there would be more options or atleast educated practitioners.

> I most likely will contact about the Brace, but if

I can't

> get the brace shop to take this AFO back then I can't afford them

anyway. So I

> guess there isn't much point.

> I am praying that the DBB will work better this time. Her

CF shoe

> has the plastizote in it still, but not the right one b/c we cut

the heel out.

> I use the Old Navy socks with the grippers and blister pads on her

feet, not

> sure what else to try.

> I hope this email makes sense to everyone- I have been up

for a very

> long time today and am kind of in a hurry to go to bed. I still

haven't had

> time to take pics of the AFO and Kaitlin's foot. It will probably

be late

> tomorrow night since I have to work tomorrow. I just wanted to

check messages and

> respond right quick.

> Once again, I am SO grateful for all of your help!

> Freeman

> Kaitlin Freeman 3/9/04 LCF

>

>

>