If it were a perfect world, I would have been blessed with the knowledge of Dr. Ponseti's Method for treating clubfeet two years earlier than I did. We would have gone to the orthopaedic doc, endured a relatively easy serial-casting treatment for a few weeks, gone home and the rest would be history. It would have been so simple and matter-of-fact that I wouldn't be here today, eight years later, building and maintaining this website that I hope will help other parents, and save other children from inferior clubfoot treatment options. Brian was born with bilateral clubfeet. That's a given. What isn't a given, what is the dirty little secret so many other parents face but fear admitting to, is that there was a certain amount of shame involved. We blamed ourselves for his birth defect. We worried about what would the family say? What would the neighbor's say? Holy cow, we had really screwed up big this time.... I had Brian delivered by a midwife. She was no help. "Be glad it's his feet and not his head!" she scolded me. She, too, seemed ashamed - as if a freak of nature was in our midst and this freak would somehow soil her reputation as a midwife. "It's because you're too small to carry children." She also said, adding to my personal sense of blame and shame. Could I really deform a child's head by being a small person? According to her, I could. Sadly ignorance still abounds in this modern world. So we went home two hours after Brian's birth exhausted and mentally crushed. It was a major fog where I wandered lost for three solid days. I wasn't ashamed of my baby - I was ashamed of admitting to my son that I had somehow broken him. I was so sorry for what I had done even though I didn't know what I had done to deform and disfigure the perfect child God had given me, but Oh I was so sorry! On the evening of the third day following his birth, I summonsed up all my courage and privately took him to my bedroom. I laid him on my bed. He was so calm, so trusting. So stoic. I stared at him for a long time, then slowly I began to undress him. It was time to look. Now you're wondering how I had gone three days with out looking at my own child's feet, but I had. I'd seen them at birth, but I hadn't looked since. Feeding, clothing, diapering, somehow I could avert my eyes, I would look away from them. But now it was time to come to grips and take the bull by the horns as they say. So I undressed him as he laid there fearless and with out any shame of his own, with out any blame towards me, with out any knowledge that he was anything except perfect. Gently I took one of his little feet in to my hand. It was warm and soft and alive. The other foot. Warm and soft. I rubbed both his feet for a long time, and touched him all over marveling at his beauty. OK, so his feet were curled up - that's all they were. There were no scales, no slime, nothing horrific or barbaric or frightening.... they were just warm and soft, connected to the little baby boy whom I fell instantly in love with that very moment. That is when it dawned on my that the midwife had not made his footprints at birth. Suddenly I was angry! Oh Momma Bear angry! How dare that woman treat my child like junk! And I shouted inside myself, "God doesn't make junk!" It was late in the evening but I got in the car and I drove to Walmart to buy an ink stamp pad. Back at home I used my computer to create a certificate of sorts that I printed out - and on that, I place his two perfectly clubbed foot prints. My next act was to go frame that page and hang it smack dab on the living room wall where the world might see. God doesn't make junk! I said it every time I looked at it. On his fourth day, we went to see a doctor. Our doctor(s) told us it was no problem...he assured me it wasn't my fault, but he went on with the mostly false idea that my body was too small to carry a baby thus I caused the clubfeet in that manner (later I learned that Positional Clubfoot is really not the same thing as idiopathic). I was referred to a specialist who told us, "No problem...." Like an idiot, I believed them. Casting began at 4 days old. Five months later, Brian's feet were worse than they were at birth (photo at left). Due to a combination of my ignorance and inferior casting methods and treatment, Brian's feet became 'Atypical' - a term used to describe clubbed feet that are short, square, stiff and resistant to casting treatments. After six full months of casting, Brian's doctor gave up. Brian went in to AFO braces and physical therapy. As he approached his 2nd birthday, nothing had changed, his feet still looked like they did at 5 months old. He hobbled along the best he could, falling, bruising himself, hurting all the time. When his doctor recommended a major reconstructive surgery, my gut instinct said no. I kept putting it off and putting it off. I'm not sure why, I had nothing else to go on except it felt wrong to me. Then one day I ventured on to the Internet. Somehow I found the nosurgery4clubfoot group, and through there, I discovered Dr. Ponseti. I emailed photos of Brian's feet to him. The next day I received a phone call. "You need to bring him to me right away." Said Dr. Ponseti. Not his nurse, the real doctor! "You look in to Angel Flights, you stay at the Ronald McDonald House - you do not worry about all the things, you call Angel Flights, and when you get here, tell me and I will see him." Going to see a strange doctor I found on the internet 700 miles from home on a tiny 4 seater plane sounded as right to me as surgery had sounded wrong. I did what Dr. Ponseti said with complete faith and trust. A week later I flew with Brian to Iowa City on an Angel Flight. Dr. Ponseti attempted to re-cast Brian in to correction but due to his extreme condition, it failed. Too much damage had already been done by the 1st doctor who treated him. Dr. Ponseti and his staff were left with only one option, the surgery known as the ATTT. Unlike typical clubfoot surgeries, the ATTT only relocates a tendon and is often refered to as the Tendon Transfer Surgery. No bones are cut, no joints are invaded, bones aren't pinned together. Prior to the ATTT, Brian wore casts, counting his casts in infancy and the casts applied by Dr. Ponseti, for more than 7 months of his life. After the ATTT, he wore healing casts another 6 weeks, bringing the total closer to 9 months of castings in his life. (see comparison figures to his two younger brothers below). Shown at the left, Brian is wearing his post ATTT healing casts at age 2 years. After six weeks these casts were removed. With in ten days, Brian could not only walk (which was basically impossible before), but he could run and wear normal shoes. |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Less than a year after his ATTT surgery in Iowa City, Brian is finally a normal kid playing at the river. |
| Age 4, Brian enjoyed a night of Striper fishing with Chriss. |
| Thank you Dr. Ponseti!!! Age 4. |
| The results of inferior casting methods to correct his clubfeet, Brian's feet are worse here at 5 months old than they were at birth and are now considered severely Atypical, or Complex. |
| Ponseti vs. Non-Ponseti Treatments: Brian (NP): An estimated 285 days spent in casts over a 2 1/2year period 35 +/- cast changes. Everett (P): 39 days spent in casts 5 cast changes. Garrison (P): 27 days spent in casts 4 cast changes. The difference between the two younger boys was the severity of their condition, Everett required 5 changes, Garrison only 4 changes. |
| New born, above. First casts, four days later, below. click photo to enlarge |
Brian's
Clubfoot Page
Clubfoot Page
Somewhere around one year old, the
physical therapist had us try this
walking device to help Brian. Notice
he is also wearing AFO's here.
physical therapist had us try this
walking device to help Brian. Notice
he is also wearing AFO's here.
Click an image to your left to enlarge
the thumbnail.
Brian, age 2, wearing his post-ATTT
casts in Grandma's cloths dryer..
You notice they did not slow him
down much.
Brian and I board our last Angel
Flight to Iowa City to have the casts
removed. The white on his casts are
patches I had to apply because he kept
busting them up crawling around.
The staff at Dr. Ponseti's clinic begin
to cut off his casts.
Cutting off casts. (tips for orthopaedic
cast removal at home, click here)
One cast begins to come off.
One cast is complete removed,
revealing the button and bandage
beneath.
What looks like a button here, is.
The button is sewn to the tendon that
has been re-anchored in his foot,
holding it in place until it heals.
The button on his other foot.
Both casts removed and buttons
removed, the minor "injury" is covered
now with a bandaid.
Brian stayed in the hospital over night
after his ATTT surgery; we went
home three days after it.
Here is Brian the day after his post-op
casts were removed, hanging out at
the Pentacrest in Iowa City, Iowa. He
was too tender to walk yet but
enjoyed a nice outing being carried.
the thumbnail.
Brian, age 2, wearing his post-ATTT
casts in Grandma's cloths dryer..
You notice they did not slow him
down much.
Brian and I board our last Angel
Flight to Iowa City to have the casts
removed. The white on his casts are
patches I had to apply because he kept
busting them up crawling around.
The staff at Dr. Ponseti's clinic begin
to cut off his casts.
Cutting off casts. (tips for orthopaedic
cast removal at home, click here)
One cast begins to come off.
One cast is complete removed,
revealing the button and bandage
beneath.
What looks like a button here, is.
The button is sewn to the tendon that
has been re-anchored in his foot,
holding it in place until it heals.
The button on his other foot.
Both casts removed and buttons
removed, the minor "injury" is covered
now with a bandaid.
Brian stayed in the hospital over night
after his ATTT surgery; we went
home three days after it.
Here is Brian the day after his post-op
casts were removed, hanging out at
the Pentacrest in Iowa City, Iowa. He
was too tender to walk yet but
enjoyed a nice outing being carried.
Brian, age 9. Wade-fishing the Santa Fe river in central Florida and stopping for lunch.
Brian and his two little brothers
at the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo,
Gainesville, FL
at the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo,
Gainesville, FL
We don't know what the future holds for Brian's
clubfeet. Dr. Ponseti speculates that by his teen
years, Brian will begin to suffer the pain and
stiffness that is so prevalent with feet that do not
receive the Ponseti Method. All we can do is cross
that bridge when we get to it, and until then, let a
boy enjoy being a boy.
clubfeet. Dr. Ponseti speculates that by his teen
years, Brian will begin to suffer the pain and
stiffness that is so prevalent with feet that do not
receive the Ponseti Method. All we can do is cross
that bridge when we get to it, and until then, let a
boy enjoy being a boy.
These are Brian's feet today at age 8, six years after his ATTT
surgery. With most children, the feet will grow to look
practically normal, but in Brian's case, his Atypical /
Complex case was too severe by the time we found Dr.
Ponseti so Brian's feet will never enjoy a normal appearance
or completely normal function.
On the upside, the ATTT surgery allowed Brian to
discontinue wearing his AFO braces, his FAB that was
attempted, and all casting. He was able to begin wearing
normal shoes, and to walk normally. With in ten days of
removing these casts, he was functioning on his own feet
quite well, no longer stumbling, falling or in pain.
surgery. With most children, the feet will grow to look
practically normal, but in Brian's case, his Atypical /
Complex case was too severe by the time we found Dr.
Ponseti so Brian's feet will never enjoy a normal appearance
or completely normal function.
On the upside, the ATTT surgery allowed Brian to
discontinue wearing his AFO braces, his FAB that was
attempted, and all casting. He was able to begin wearing
normal shoes, and to walk normally. With in ten days of
removing these casts, he was functioning on his own feet
quite well, no longer stumbling, falling or in pain.
In the bottom of the Devil's
Millhopper (a large sinkhole) State
Park, Gainesville, FL. Brian, Everett,
Garrison, myself, and Chriss.
Millhopper (a large sinkhole) State
Park, Gainesville, FL. Brian, Everett,
Garrison, myself, and Chriss.
Test driving a 2-man Kayak on the Santa Fe River, Chriss and Brian.
The little stinker! We were
actually considering buying
this green kayak for Brian
but when I "test drove" it, it
was so unstable it dumped
me in the river! Brian took
the photo as I came back
above water. Ya, he's still
laughing at me over this...
actually considering buying
this green kayak for Brian
but when I "test drove" it, it
was so unstable it dumped
me in the river! Brian took
the photo as I came back
above water. Ya, he's still
laughing at me over this...
Six years later, following more than two years of treatments,
Brian is 8 years old. His feet still tell the tale of his inferior
treatment with their short, block appearance, kidney shape, and
stiffness in his ankles. Note too his calf muscles are thin -
another indicator of inferior / improper casting common with
atypical clubfoot. But his feet work now and are pain free; there
is no scar tissue build up so common with other clubfoot
surgeries which cause pain and result in further operations.
Brian is 8 years old. His feet still tell the tale of his inferior
treatment with their short, block appearance, kidney shape, and
stiffness in his ankles. Note too his calf muscles are thin -
another indicator of inferior / improper casting common with
atypical clubfoot. But his feet work now and are pain free; there
is no scar tissue build up so common with other clubfoot
surgeries which cause pain and result in further operations.
