Re: Brace issues

[Guest guest]

, I agree with you 100%. I think that it's also difficult for

most parents to 'go against the grain', so to speak, and question

their child's doctor about whether or not the foot/feet are

completely corrected.

In our case, right from the beginning when the last cast came off,

Owen's foot did look good (compared to what it looked like before

treatment) but it didn't look 'perfect' to me. I wasn't quite sure

what to expect it to look like but when his doctor told me that

it 'looked great' and that was confirmed by my own support system

(family, friends, etc.), I had to fight myself to hush those nagging

thoughts that it wasn't quite right. My husband was of the thinking

that if the doctor said it looked good, then it must be so...after

all, he's the professional and knows what he's seeing, right?! When

my nagging suspicions became stronger (once Owen completed his

initial 3 month 23 hour DBB wear and I was able to observe his foot

for a longer period each day) I began to seek others' opinions. My

family and friends thought that I was crazy and no one could see what

I could see - his foot still looked great to everyone but me, so it

seemed. Mind you, our doctor was practicing a very modified version

of the Ponseti method (from what I could tell) and had only just

begun doing so shortly before Owen was born so Owen was among his

very first cases using the method.

With encouragement from this group, I sent pictures to Dr. Ponseti

and heard back from him the very next day. He confirmed to me that

Owen's foot was NOT fully corrected (whether it was a relapse or in

fact was not fully corrected from the start, we'll never know but I

have my theory!).

We travelled across the country to be treated by a Ponseti-trained

doctor and now Owen's foot IS 'perfect'.

I'm so grateful for this group. Without the support, encouragement

and knowledge that I found here, there's no telling where we might be

in Owen's treatment.

Daiga and Owen, 02/04/03

Unilateral LCF, DBB 14/24