How to talk to non-Ponseti doctor

[Guest guest]

My husband and I were admiring our son 's feet tonight.

went through two non-Ponseti doctors who were unable to correct his

feet. He had serial casts from the time he was four days old, but

they were only up to his knees and the doctor tried to push his feet

into position. It was nothing like what the Ponseti doctor did. He

wore Markell shoes without the dbb for 6 weeks, then back to more

casts. Finally at 6 months of age the doctor sent us to another

orthopedic surgeon who recommended major surgery. Luckily, before he

ever had the surgery I found out about Dr. Ponseti and joined this

group.

I am in awe of the fact that after 6 casts and a tenotomy with a

Ponseti doctor his feet are now perfect. I am still upset that so few

doctors use the Ponseti method and that there are no doctors in Maine

using it. I've spoken with my pediatrician about the Ponseti method

and she seemed very interested and said she would look it up on the

internet. I'm hoping their practice will refer future clubfoot babies

to a Ponseti doctor in Massachusetts.

Now I feel like I need to write a letter to my former orthopedic

surgeon and the one he referred me to. How do I tactfully tell them

about the Ponseti method and what's it done for without

sounding like I'm criticizing them? What have others done?

Thanks,

and 11/10/03 bilateral clubfeet dbb 23/7