Anna's (right) club foot

Naisa - posted on 12/21/2012

Hi my baby is 4 months and has a club foot se is having a opp on her right foot i am very scared for her. we live 8 hours away from our dr and i also have 4 other children. if you have advice on th opp please share with me

Tanya - posted on 05/16/2011

Hi every one
I was born in 1972 with a club foot , I was one of the first babies to use the method of having a pot put on I was in a plaster cast ( pot ) for 3 -6 months my foot is now straight .I hope all you mams out there have all had a sucess with this method ,& that your children have now got a foot that is stright, I will admit though if I go over on my ankle it does to quite a while to heal , but as a baby you have no recollection of wearing a pot , my parents told me I had a club foot , they were scared for me to have the porcedure done but it was the best thing they did , I was the oly child out of 2 sisters that had this condition , none of my 4 children had this condition. Good luck from Tamyaxxxx

Ane - posted on 05/14/2011

Hi Julie, I also see the post was a long time ago. Haley is 4 months old now and had casting since she was 2 weeks old. Her foot has improved alot and last week the doctor told us after this cast she can have a break for about 3 weeks. The last cast was looser than the rest and when I took it of, her foot seemed scewer than before, but still much better. Im only seeing the dr 13 June again. Did anyone's Dr give the baby a break? She has had a total of 8 casts on sofar. I had an realy bad club foot when I was small and went through alot of ops and teasing from kids, I dont want my baby to go through the same as I went through. Can anyone send me a pic of how their baby's feet looked after their last cast.

Julie - posted on 04/11/2011

I noticed that your post was in 2009. However, I am so frustrated right now. I have an easy going bubbly baby boy who is 7 1/2 mos. old. He was born with 2 club feet. He has had the shoes and bar since Nov. He will absolutely NOT sleep in them. He wiggles out of the shoes and then cries because 1 foot is out and the other is all tangled up in the bar. Plus, he is a side sleeper and can't do it comfortably with the bar and shoes. He is averaging 3-4 hours a day of shoes and bar time because he is so active that he won't wear them unless he is in the stroller or carseat. I am SO afraid that he will relapse and it will be my fault for being such a wimp! I

Jamey - posted on 02/14/2011

WOW! I had looked for a group lke this when my daughter was an infant but couldn't find anything! My daughter is almost 4 and has club foot on the right side. We live in Alaska so at first we saw a doctor here who had limited experience with club foot. She was in a cast and every two weeks would have it changed. When she was three months old he did her first achilles tendon lengthening. It was then that he said her foot was too severe and she was better off with the Shriners. When she was 6 months we started traveling to Spokane, Washington for casting and at 8 months she had her second tendon lengthening. After that she was put in a brace 23+ hours a day until she was 18 months. She learned to walk in the brace! I find that for night sleeping that we put a loose blanket over her so she didn't get all tangled up. At age 2 she had a tendon transfer and a few months later, a joint release. Now that she is older, keeping the brace on her is next to impossible.

Right now, we are dealing with a set back. On Christmas Eve she jumped off a bunk bed and broke her ankle on that foot. Of course with a doctor all the way in Washington, we had to see a different doctor. She was casted for the break, for three weeks. She got if off a month ago and at first, didn't walk AT ALL! She walked with the cast on but once it came off, she wouldn't walk. About 2 weeks later, she was walking, but only with shoes on. Finally late last week, I put her in slippers and she walked in those. I can see why she is only walking with shoes on....she is walking completely on the side of her foot or I guess the ankle. She has an appointment in Spokane in two weeks and I am one anxious mommy. Since having the cast off for the break she doesn't fit properly in her brace and it hurts her. Some nights we don't get much sleep at all.

Her doctor had told us that she wouldn't be any more susceptible to breaks or sprains than anyone else. I have no idea what to expect the doctor to say. Has anyone else been through this before? Anyone else out there see the Shriners?

Lisa - posted on 10/15/2009

UPDATE October 15th, 2009



Anna had her surgery 4 weeks ago and everything went great! She just got her cast off today that she had to wear for four weeks straight. Her wearing the cast this time around (10 months old) was much much better then when she just a tiny baby. She didn't even cry one bit - it was as if she didn't even have the cast on. She still was crawling around everywhere and even standing up for a very brief amount of time. we just got the cast removed this morning and now she is wearing the sandal style boots and brace to bed every night for 12 hours straight until she is 3 or 4 years old. She is not very happy about the brace since it restricts her movement and freedom while trying to get comfortable to sleep. As I type this message she is crying out of frusteration and I keep going in and trying to comfort her to get her to sleep. I think we are in for a long night (probably one of many to come).



Any tips for ease of sleeping with the brace at night???

Lisa - posted on 08/25/2009

UPDATE from August 25th/09 Appt



We had a couple foot appointments since I last posted, and Anna's doctor noticed that her heel was getting much tighter than before. She is going to have to the heel cord surgery completed (aapointment is booked for this September). Then after the surgery she will have to wear a cast for 3 weeks, and then the Mitchell Style shoes/brace for 12 hrs each day until she is 3 years old. I feel like I am back at square one now...I am very nervous about her surgery and not looking forward to her being in a cast again or the brace. She cried bloody murder when she had the cast on and the brace previously...she is such a happy baby and I know that she will be miserable once again..it breaks my heart to know what she is going to have to go through and I can't explain to her why this happening (she is 9 months old now).

Any words of incouragement would help out...thanks!

Lisa - posted on 04/05/2009

UPDATE from Anna's foot appt last week.

The stretching and taping method is continuing to work well for Anna.  The foot dr said that she has improved a great deal since her last visit in Feb.  We are to continue with this method for another 8 weeks until her next appt near the end off May.  The doctor also mentioned that if Anna continues to improve at the rate she has been with this method that she may never need to wear the braces for correction.  This is great news for Anna.

Lisa - posted on 02/23/2009

Hi April, this really is a great group and has helped me out alot as well. 

Something I had forgotten to mention in the beginning of my post is that when I was born, I had a "mild" case of club foot as well.  My foot wasn't as bad as my daughters, but it was still club foot.  When I was a baby I had six casts applied, stretching completed on my foot each day by my parents, and special shoes that I wore - these were the same shoes that are provided with the Markell style brace, but I didn't need to wear the bar with the shoes.  My foot is very normal today and it has never given me any problems.

UPDATE FOR ANNA

We went to Anna's foot appt on Feb 19th and the doctor examined her foot to see how the stretching and taping method had been going for the last three weeks.  The doctor said that this method was working very well for Anna as her foot was getting much more flexiable.  The doctor wants us to continue the stretching and taping method for six weeks.  If during the six weeks we feel that no progress is being made then we are to book an earlier appointment to perhaps try the braces again.   I am so pleased that Anna's foot is continuing to improve and now that she doesn't have anything "bothering" her feet (i.e. braces, or cast) she has been sleeping for 7 hours through out the night and she is now three months old. 

I will continue to post updates to this thred.

April - posted on 02/23/2009

My fifth child is due in April and has been diagnosed with bilateral club foot. I loved reading all these replies, keep me posted!!! I live in Dallas so we will probably be going to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children which specializes in orthopedics for children. I feel blessed to be in a community where I know I will get excellent care for my child.

Lisa - posted on 02/07/2009

Well since I last wrote, there has been some updates with my little Anna.  The shoes/bar gave her blisters and sores on her club foot.  I made an appointment to go back to see her doctor and they suggested that we keep the shoes off of her to let her foot heal.   The doctor also said that Anna's foot was looking very good and improving very well.  She suggested that instead of casting her to use a "french" method and tape her foot up and complete physio stretching to her club foot 5 times a day.  We have been doing this since our last appointment, and her next appointment is Feb 19th, 2009.  If her foot continues to improve with the taping a stretching by her next appointment we will keep doing this instead of casting and when her feet are a little bit bigger for the other braces (Mitchell Braces).  The Mitchell style have a less chance of giving blisters and sores since they are shaped more like sandals.  You can also see where the heal is located in these braces as well.

I want to thank Lauren and Kelly for your recent posts.  Your words and advice mean alot to me, thank you so much.  I love this group...I don't feel alone any more.

Kelly - posted on 02/01/2009

My son, now 20 moths old, was born with a club foot. The very best advice I can give you is DON'T GIVE UP!!!! It was so hard seeing him with the casts starting at a week old, being changed weekly until his surgery in October at 4 months old. Once we went to the shoes there were many sleepless nights, times he fought me while I was putting them on or frustration when he got them off. There were nights we both ended up in tears. These times, althought they seem like they'll last forever, will be over in no time. The doctor tells you 12 hours a day, which seems like an eternity, but kids sleep pretty close to the anyways. As I said, my son is now 20 months and at bedtime he goes and gets his shoes and socks, brings them to me, lays down and waits for me to put them on. It's all he knows. I promise it does get easier. And the very best reward for all the hard times is watching him running, playing, climbing, jumping and doing all the things that I was so afraid he'd never do.

A little hint that might help some other parents out there...

With the lace up shoes and the bar...

Lace the shoes up the opposite way (so the bow is at the toes),

this makes them a little tighter at the ankle and harder to loosen and get off.

Lauren - posted on 01/28/2009

Hi Lisa,

I live in Australia and am new to the group. Little Anna's situation sounds alot like my Blake. He was also born with club foot in his right foot. He has had the boots & bars for 3 weeks now and believe me it does get better. The first week is pretty heart breaking, Blake also had his 2 month vaccination the same week & I ended up in hospital on a drip with extreme gastro, so we had a terrible time all round. He was very upset & clingy & we found it very hard to settle him. But he has had them on for three weeks now and he is back to his old self, smiling & gooing away. I've found I prefer the boots to the cast because I can take them off and give him a bath. It's the best part of my day because he smiles and kicks and I get to see the progress his foot is making.  I also find it very hard when I'm out shopping or meeting new people as they don't know what to say when they see his shoes and when they do ask I have to explain all over again what they are for. Most people are pretty good about it, I have run into a few rude people who stare but that's their hang up not mine.  I hope things get better for oyu guys. When I'm finding it especially tough I always remind myself how much tougher it would be if he had to do all this when he's older (& trying to walk) instead of now when he's so adaptable. God Bless.

Lyndsey - posted on 01/23/2009

Aww I'm so sorry she is having a rough time. Nothing is harder on a mama than seeing your baby cry and be unhappy. I hope things get better; keep us updated.

Lisa - posted on 01/23/2009

Well we went yesterday to have Anna's new braces applied.  She was fitted with the Markell style brace (little white shoes with bar at bottom).  She was crabby all day yesterday and all evening.  She was constantly crying and it was very hard to stop her from her tears.  Her crying got so bad, that I started to cry as well.  I decided to take the brace off and give her a nice warm bath, as soon as I took the brace off she instantly stopped crying.  She enjoyed her bath and her small amount of time out of the brace.  Once she calmed down we put the brace back on and she settled for a bit to eat, but then was crying off and on through out the night.  She only slept for 3 hours last night (she normally sleeps for about 5 hours straight) and has just gone down for another nap this morning.  It breaks my heart to see her cry the way she did last night....and also breaks my heart that when she is awake she is crying and not happy and content like she normally is.   I hope that she gets used to the brace soon and can get the rest she needs.

Lisa - posted on 01/21/2009

Thank you everyone for your comments and information.  It is very helpful for me knowing that others are going through the same thing that Anna and I are.

Anna is now 2 months old.  We went to her weekly foot appointment yesterday.  The doctor said that her foot was looking good and improving well so she decided to put her in the "Mitchell" braces yesterday.  The braces were a bit too big for her little feet but the dr still put them on her.  As soon as we got anna home and took her out of her car seat her club foot was out of the brace.  My husband and I put her foot back in and later that night while she was asleep her crib, Anna had pulled her foot out of the brace again.  I called her foot dr today and explained the situation - we now have an appointment for tomorrow morning to go back and have another pair of braces put on her feet that are smaller in size.  The braces that will be applied tomorrow are not the "Mitchell" style, they are the little white shoes with laces and the bar at the bottom of the shoes.    The dr originally didn't want to put these ones on as they may cause more sores and brusing to the foot.  The good thing about the "Mitchell" style braces was they were more like sandals and you could see her ankle and where the foot was positioned and in the little white shoe braces that will be applied tomorrow do not have this feature.

I personally feel that she should still have the casting done since her feet are still so small, but the dr thinks she is ready to wear the braces.

I will keep you posted on how she makes out.

Jennifer - posted on 01/21/2009

Hi there!,

Welcome to the group. Im new here myself. My daughter jasmine was also born with a right club foot.  My daughter is now 6 and since she was born its been a tough journey with the operations, casting, and braces she went through. Today my daughter is fine. Her right foot is slightly smaller then the left and it will be like that, but she has come a long way. As long as you find the right doctors and PT specialist, things should go smoothly.

Lyndsey - posted on 01/20/2009

Lisa, I live in Huntington, Indiana. Oliver was out of his casts at the end of October, and is now in a pair of KAFO braces. (Not the boots and bar.) He is doing very well. I hope you are doing well!

Nathaly - posted on 01/19/2009

Hi Lisa, I also know what it's like. My son is 17 months now, he had a cast on until he was 8 months. Than the boots for the 3 months for 23 hours and now just at night. he also had an operation at 4 months. But i must say he has been a trouper through it all. I some times think it was harder for me then for him. I had too drive for 2 hours every week to get his cast changed an with 3 kids under 5 that was not always easy. But it has not stopped him. He is now walking and in too everything, and his foot is looking heaps better. If you don't know he has a clubfoot you can't tell from looking at it, unless you're upclose.
He is sleeping fine with the boots, he stands up in his cot and can even crawl with them.
Good luck with it all!

Nathaly

Jodie - posted on 01/12/2009

Hey Lisa! Sounds like you are going through a process similar to ours. I can totally relate. When my son was little, he always seemed so happy when his cast or braces were off. It always broke my heart to go back to reality! The good news is that kids are so adaptable and after a while, it is all they know.



You asked me some questions in my post about the brace wear. I have to admit... it was a little tough at first. Our first night home, I didn't get any sleep. I brought Zach into our bed and he would fall asleep for about 5 minutes and then wake up if he went to move to get comfy. It was a long night! But... the next morning (when I Was a zombie!) he was so tired, that he finally took a long nap with the brace on. Then we didn't have another problem. Zach learned to crawl with his braces on. Once he got really active, then we went to nights and naps. It was all good until he learned to wiggle his foot out of the shoes :)



Honestly, once we got him comfortable in the braces, it really wasn't a big deal. We made sure that all PJs had no feet. As for sweats and pants... you'll find that changing Anna isn't all that hard. I used to use the bar to hold his legs in the air for a diaper change :)



I know what you are going through is hard! But it gets better. Zach walked at 12 months and has been on the go ever since. He is having surgery next Tuesday on his right foot due to a relapse, but I honestly think that he relapsed because our doctor told us that at age 2 he no longer needed the brace. GRRRR!!



We are all in this together and do not hesitate to contact me with any questions!!



Jodie

Lisa - posted on 01/12/2009

Hi Lyndsey,

Thank you for your reply.  The casts are cut off by her dr - she usually cries through the process when they take the casts off and put the new ones on - she is getting a bit more used to it now so she doesn't cry as much as she used to at the beginning.  I live in Ontario - Canada.  Where are you from? Is your son in the casts still or has he moved on to the brace??

Lyndsey - posted on 01/11/2009

Hi Lisa!! I completely understand what you mean about seeing a different baby when her casts are off. Do you soak the casts off or are they cut off by your dr? We had to soak Oliver's casts off. What a process! But at the same time it was precious time spent with him. Where are you from??