Ponseti Parent
Testimonials
- 1 -

                                                       
To include your testimonial to this page please email Shawnee
with
Ponseti Testimonial in the subject line.  
The parents on the following list
graciously invite you to contact
them directly if you would like to
speak with someone regarding
the clubfoot treatment of your
child.
***********
Joyce
Boise, Idaho,
daughter adopted from China at
the age of almost 3 years old with
untreated bilateral clubfeet.
lvsandals@netzero.net

Heather
Vancouver, BC Canada
missmamamoon@yahoo.ca
son with bilateral clubfoot
http://boyhamham.blogspot.com/se
arch/label/clubfoot
Just wanted to say that I love your website! My name is Brianna Preston and I
have recently given birth to my second little boy.
Caden is my firstborn and
he was born with clubfeet two years ago. Levi is 8 weeks old and he
also has clubfeet.
We are on our way to Iowa in a week and a half to see Dr.
Ponseti after a frustrating interval with a doctor who claimed to use the Ponseti
method, but didn't. Even to me, a seasoned CF mom, it appeared that he was
doing things properly till we got to the bracing stage. Then everything fell apart
and I realized that Levi's feet weren't corrected properly in the first place. So,
that's a little about us.

But your site was so inspiring to me. Especially looking at the pics of your little
boys just being little boys. I can't wait till mine are old enough to camp, fish and
hike. I can't believe you had even your tiny one camping so young! That looks
like it was fun. Your site is full of information that will be very helpful to others
and mostly. . .I liked the fact that you told it like it was. It has a different tone
from other sites I've visited. A tone of urgency, I guess.

My favorite part of the site? "The Clubfoot Diagnosis: It ain't no thang."

Yup.
That's the way it should be for every child and parent in this
situation
. Hopefully, one day soon nearly every orthopedic surgeon will be
properly trained in this technique and we won't hear all these heartbreaking
stories. Thanks for making some of that happen with your site!

Brianna Preston

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Shawnee -

I know we've never talked before, but I really wanted to give you personal
thanks.

I surfed onto a web site about your boys and  
reading about your oldest
boy's story is what prompted me to find  something better for my son.
I
cried my eyes out and felt that we  were headed down the path of your son. I
know he's probably a  regular, happy guy, but because of your site, I knew
there was a  better alternative for Cade.

I wish there was a way I could spread the word about the  Ponseti method. I feel
like climbing on top of the biggest thing  I can and just screaming. It makes me
so sad that there are still  kids going through the reconstructive surgery
needlessly. And  even though we've never spoken, I truly feel like you saved
my son  from going through it. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I will always remember you and all of your boys. There are not words to
describe how thankful we are that you had your story out  there.
Your website
was truly what got my husband to start seeing  that we needed to go to
Iowa.
 I truly want to spread  the word. I've said that if our story can help just
one child,  I'll feel like all we've gone through in the past six months will truly be
worth it.

Thanks again,
Melissa


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sunday, 19 June 2005, Hayden Warren Heath Cohen was born at 1:45 in
the morning. He weighed 9 lbs. and was 21" long. He had all the exact parts for
a normal, healthy baby boy, except that he had one tiny imperfection.
He was
born with bilateral clubfoot
. Two little feet with all of the right bones, just in
the wrong position. I noticed right away something was different about him, in
fact I had already known before he was born, but just did not know what was
different or special about him. It did not matter, I was already hopelessly in love
with him.

The feet were turned all the way inward, toes facing toes. They then curved up,
very much in a "club" shape. The soles of his feet faced his body. They were
oh, so crooked. The paediatrician told us right away that it was completely
treatable. We felt relieved. Our little boy would be able to walk, run and play
just like any other kid.

His first casts were applied when he was two days old. We were given the
option of waiting a week, but we declined. I wish I had taken that week to just
love him as he was. I had
a lot of "why me?", "what did we do wrong?"
and  "how did this happen?" moments.
In a country like Canada, you'd
think I might have been able to find out ahead of time.  
Continue reading
Hayden's Clubfoot Story Here..........


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Walking Miracle"

Click here to watch a short video interview with Dr.
Ponseti and learn more about the Ponseti Method of
Clubfoot Correction.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


In nosurgery4clubfoot@yahoogroups.com, "Kelley"
wrote:

Hi everyone.
I'm new to this group but so glad I've joined. I have a  22 month old daughter
born with bilateral clubfoot., severe, atypical.  

She was treated at Children's Mercy in Kansas City for 4 months with no  
success.  
It was a horror story,  in fact we were told that she may be  one of
the few that can't be treated with casting, to go home and  come back for the
old school
open reconstruction when she's older.  

We did go home but did more research and found Dr. Ponseti. Then we went to

Ponseti and he worked a miracle !!
! He told us that her feet were one of the
severest he has seen but told us not to worry that "she will  be a ballerina"

After months of biweekly trips to Iowa she finally  went into the brace (the
ponseti/mitchell) she crawled  at 12 months and it seemed like forever but she
just started walking one  week ago at 22months of age.

We still cannot get used to seeing her walk. Every time is just like the  first. My
husband and I still fight back tears when she walks  across  the room.

We have found out that I have 6 relatives on my mothers side with bilateral
clubfoot so we are
participating in a genetics  study with Dr. Morcuende at  
the university of Iowa.  I want to say  that I am an ER nurse and my husband is
a truck driver,(he stayed  home with her for the first 13 months of her life while
we were getting her feet fixed so we lived on my income alone) we are not rich,
in  fact we slept in the parking garage at  the University of Iowa hospital eating
crackers many times because we didn't have the money for gas, tolls  AND a
hotel or even the Ronald McDonald house but it was worth everything we went
through to get to Dr. Ponseti.

Anyone out there who is having  trouble with casts slipping, blisters, or any
other problems should contact Dr. Ponseti. Its well worth every sacrifice!!

*****Note from Shawnee: I strongly urge all parents to participate in the genetics
study mentioned here with Dr. Morcuende.   My husband, all three of my sons
and myself have donated our blood samples to this study.   Our boys were 7
years, 2  years and 2 months old when we did it.   I know drawing blood can
see gross or scary to children and grownups alike, but the nurses at the clinic
were very gentle with the children.   
Do it for your grand kids and great
grand kids!  Let's find the cause of clubfoot and wipe it out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hi Shawnee

I took a peek at your website and it looks great...  tons of useful information! I'd
be happy to pass it along in the show and provide a link in the show notes.

Thanks again for letting me know about this resource!

All the best,

Dr Mike

Listen to the Dr. Mike Show Episode #46: http://www.pediascribe.
com/podcast/20070813/pediacast-46-mcdonalds-club-foot-penis-
care-347-404-5437/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Hi, my name is Joyce and I'm the proud mother to our
    daughter, Allison, whom my husband and I brought
    home from China at the age of almost 3 years old.  
    Our daughter was born with severe bilateral clubfeet
    and luckily we eventually found the right treatment for
    her. However, the journey to find the right doctor was
    not easy and at times very long, frustrating, and
    exhausting. I didn't have anyone guiding me, and all
    the medical people I turned to locally didn't have any
    answers for me either on where to turn for treatment. I
    hope our story below will help you in your journey with
    your clubfoot child to know you are not alone and to
    pass on any helpful information I can. Please feel free
    to contact me at  lvsandals@netzero.net as I would be
    happy to share more information with you and just be
    there to support you.    Read the rest of Allison's
    amazing clubfoot story here...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Watch the Ponseti Method In Action Here on This Video.

Eli's Video is a touching, inspiring show that made me both laugh and cry as I
remembered my own children's journey through the Method.

".....Eli is two years old. He has been treated by Dr. Raymond Morrissy with
Children's Orthopedics of Atlanta until the last visit when Dr. Shrader took over
because Dr. Morrissy retired. They are both Ponseti trained doctors and their
work has been fabulous to this point. Dr. M sat down with us for a pre-natal
appointment to answer any questions we might have when I was 30 weeks
pregnant, and he answered every question regarding treatment correctly
(according to the Ponseti method).


The main thing I would tell parents of kids with clubfeet is to find a support
system. The nosurgery and clubfoot boards on Yahoo were great for me while I
was going through all the treatments with Eli. Also,
make sure you read up
about the process so that you don't blindly follow your doctor's
suggestions.
I'm constantly amazed at how many people, even in the medical
community, do NOT know about Dr. Ponseti and his great treatment. Many
pediatricians and OB/GYNs do not know, which means
they will probably
lead you to a doctor who might perform (unnecessary) surgery.

Basically, just make sure you are informed. The other thing I would tell parents
is to
STICK WITH IT when it comes to the bar and shoes. We had ten
REALLY hard days when we first started the DBB. I was about to go back to our
doctor and beg him to put casts back on Eli because that was so much easier
than dealing with the constant slipping out of the shoes, the crying, the
sleepless nights.... But somewhere between day 10 and 14, Eli got used to it
and he has never so much as frowned at the shoes since. (From what I can tell,
it usually doesn't take that long for kids to get used to the shoes.) But the
shoes make all the difference. The casts make the correction, but if the child
doesn't wear the shoes, relapse starts very quickly. Trust me,
your kids will
thank you for 'making' them wear the shoes later when they have 100%
operational feet!!

Nicole Eliason
The Tales of Eli & Maddux
www.maddieli.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My little one went through cast after cast with a doctor who was not doing the
Ponseti method. After not being able to correct his feet at six months he sent
us to another non-Ponseti doctor. He recommended major surgery on my son's
feet.

I went on line to find information on the surgery and found Dr. P's site and this
group. We immediately cancelled the surgery and made an appointment with a
Ponseti doctor 4.5 hours away. My son was 10 months old when he went back
into casts.

My son amazed me with what he could do in his casts. He crawled all over the
place and the casts never slowed him down at all. He pulled himself up in his
casts and stood holding onto things. After he had the tenotomy and was in his
shoes, he crawled in those, pulled himself to standing and eventually, walked in
the shoes. The doctors took video of him crawling and walking down the hall in
his brace. He's 3 now and only wears the brace to bed, but he still walks in it.

Once he got out of the brace full time he had physical therapy for a brief time
and walked at 16 months. My oldest who does not have clubfoot walked at 16
months too. Please know that the alternative to a few weeks of casts is far
worse. Kids are resilient and when they want to do something, casts and
braces won't stop them. Don't worry you are doing the right thing.

Karen and Jesse bilateral cf dbb 12/7


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Living in Nice, in the South of France, we found out that our third baby will have
both club feet...

The birth date is not until October but as I started to gather information I found
your site and really wanted to thank you for doing this, this is really a great help
!!!
Long way to find a doctor but I found on your site everything I need to pick up
the right one !!!! Luckily, he is not 700 miles away but 200, that's a little far for
French people but not so for American, lol ;-)

I think he is good because he translated the Ponseti Book in French, so I hope
he knows it :-)

Your testimonial really helped in not trusting the first doctor coming , even if he
is a great orthopedist, not obviously the best to treat club feet...

thanks again
jeanne



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My son is 3 months and we went to the Dr yesterday and got his last casts
taken off and then sent across the hall to the orthodist to get his Markell's. I
was seriously disappointed in that experience! First, I forgot socks which was
my fault, but I only knew that I should have brought socks b/c of this group- my
Dr never once mentioned to make sure we had socks with us. So the orthodist
couldn't put the FAB on him at all while we were there.

His "explanation" of how to use the Markell's were basically
'put the shoes on
as tight as possible and make sure his heel is down'.
Wow. Helpful. I also
remembered something about the bar width from this group and
asked him
about the spacing and he said, "it should be fine".
We raced home as
fast as possible (remember- no brace or casts on) to put them on. It was
difficult to put the shoes on, but we got them on and then proceeded to spend
the whole rest of the day and all last night with a sorely pissed off baby. He slept

intermittently in his bouncy seat (kept his legs from moving too
much) with my husband holding his hand and trying to sleep on the
floor next to him. Yuck.

I visited your site this morning, Shawnee (six-feet.com), and found out
about the 'shoulder-width apart' for the bar. I just finished widening it
out (it was about 2 inches TOO SHORT!) and he immediately stopped
crying like his hand was cut off.

Thank you SO SO SO MUCH to everyone and especially Shawnee- without
this group we would still be completely clueless
(nosurgery4clubfoot@yahoogroups.com).
It is crazy how you can't fully
trust the medical professionals. I now feel awful that I made my baby suffer all
night, but happy that it is now fixed.

Plus I made him some super cute baby leg warmers out of skull and
cross bone knee highs (from joyofsocks.com) and he is now super
styling AND happy again! :)
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click to enlarge photo
We were  with Dr. Ponseti today.  He
was like a balm on my soul.
I really
feel happy that we are here.

We stayed at the Ronald McDonald
House and it seems to me that
everyone knows you.

Thank you for everything
you've done for us.

Liliya
Dr. Ponseti is contagious...he is
miraculous...he is wonderous... Wow,
what a man, what a gift from the
heaven's above. I did not want to leave
his presence once we were there.

Thank you for all your help and all you
have done for the clubfoot community.
I am asking if it would be ok to note
you in an article I am writing for a local
parenting magazine, and add your
website. I need to give you credit,
because it is you that helped me and
so many other desperate parents.

Good luck, and keep us posted on
what the doc's say.

Korinne H.