Getting through club feet

Michelle - posted on 10/27/2012

I posted awhile back my son is thirteen and getting ready to have surgery to reconstruction of the foot and repair the tendons in the ankle and also knee surgery all related to his severe club feet. In all he has had twenty surgery on his feet and ankles and only more to come as he grows. He has two shoe size different in his feet and in AFO.

Kristy - posted on 10/27/2012

hi

my son jack was born with idiopathic bilateral clubfeet which 1 out of 1000 children born with clubfeet has this type. jack is now 5 yrs old and we went through casting starting at 3 days old. how emotional i was. the dr we went to casted him for 3 months incorrectly and everytime he was casted jack would cry the next 2 days. i just felt like i needed another opinion after this dr said we have to put pins and rods into his feet. i went to manhattan to the hospital of special surgery after researching on the internet about a dr named dr. scher well let me tell you dr scher is god. as soon as he examined jack he told me about the type of club feet he had and when jack got casted by the other dr, if it was done correctly it should of never hurt for jack to cry. well after 2 aquilles tendon operations and surgery with the tendons and plugged under the feet jack is doing great. now he goes every 6 months for a check up and dr scher says unless his feet are bothering him or you notice a difference in walking and running make an appt. which i do notice he has been running on the side of his foot with it turning in slightly. i know in the future he would probably have to get another operation but i am making an appt to see what the next step is . good luck to anyone going through this and if i could help answer any questions please ask me. kristy

Michele - posted on 08/31/2012

My son was also born with one club foot.

Billy - posted on 11/11/2011

Hi Christina, My son Ty is 6 months old and has been through two surgeries and has been in casts since 4 days old. It is exactly like you explained, an upside down roller coaster ride. i see that you posted this 3 years ago, so I hope that it will have gotten easier for you. I would love to be able to talk with another mother who has been through or is going through what I am.

Ayren - posted on 07/15/2011

I too am looking for any tips for sleeping with bar and shoes. My son is 2 1/2 months old and is now in shoes and brace and hates them. I need suggestions in what to do to give him comfort while sleeping. Please help!!

Tanya - posted on 05/16/2011

hI
I was born in 1972 , I was one of the first babies to have the procedure done I had to wear a plaster cast ( pot ) on my leg for 3-6 months my parents were frightened , my parents told me when I was 10 that I was born with a club foot , my 2 sisters did not have this condition , neither do any of my 4 children .I will admit though when I go over on my ankle it takes a while to heal , I tend to wear ankle boots more . But friends & family do not notice that any thing was wrong with me when I was born .Good luck to all the parents whose children are having to go through this procedure , hope that the procedure is a success , take care Tanya xxx

Ruma - posted on 10/23/2010

Both my children wer born with bilateral clubefeet.Only differrence was the second one had grade 1 clubfeet.
so will need to cast his feet twice.next week the doctor will give him shoes to wear.He is now 4.5 month old.

Hellen - posted on 10/30/2009

wow after reading some of these post on here i feel extremely lucky! My son was born talipes in his left foot, He had the casting for the first 3 months and then went into the bots and bars he also had the nick on his tendon, He is almost one now in a few days and is only in the boots and bars at night time now im so lucky he hasn't fought with them at all he is in a routine and he sleeps through the night with them! He has started walking around the furniture now and has no problems with it! So grateful for the people who helped him, He is in the boots and bars till he is about 4, Hopefully with no more surgery on his feet!

Heather - posted on 10/01/2009

does physical therapy help them? My son had bilateral club feet when he was born , they corrected them with casts but were having no luck with boots and bars.. (see my new post for full details) I'm willing to try any other method.. what are the AFO's?? what kind of surgerys is it?? My son had the one to release the acchilles tendon but no other ones... our doctor keeps insisting that the only thing that will guarantee his clubbed feet wont come back is the boots with the bar, and wont suggest anything else...

Marlo - posted on 08/13/2009

My son Jake is 26 months now. He had bilateral club feet. We did the casts, the bar, the surgeries, and now we are in an AFO. His right foot is doing great, but we had to have surgery on his left about 4 months ago. He has been in his AFO for about two weeks. It seems to be going okay, so far. His physical therapist seems encouraging. She is showing us all kinds of things to help build his core strength in order to help him learn to walk. Bless his heart, he continues to take it all in stride. I just hope we are on the downhill slope.

Michelle - posted on 06/17/2009

my son was born with one serve lft club and mild rt club he was casted at birth and surgery at 4 mos and has surgry every yrs since he is nine and half and we are now getting ready to do surgery number 10 to remove hardware that was installed when he was eight due not working and causing daily pain once healed will have another surgry to install pins and rods

Seonead - posted on 03/19/2009

i thought my son had bad clubbed feet, but after reading everyone's stories of the castings he isnt so bad. he was only casted for 5 weeks, then had the heel cord nick then in casts for 3 weeks for a total of 8 weeks. then wore the shoes and the bar for 24hrs for 6 weeks and now only has to wear them at night time until he is five. does this sound familiar to anyone? also did you notice if you children were a little slower to roll over because of the casts and shoes with the bar?

Jodie - posted on 01/09/2009

Thanks so much for the response. This is why I love the internet. I can find out so much information through real people who have gone through this instead of talking to a doctor who has only operated on children :) Awesome about Cole! Isn't it the best!! These little people make our life all worth it!

Christina - posted on 01/08/2009

No way to personal, if I were you I would want to know too!

I am now 30 and live a completely normal life, with the exception of no high heels and no pointed toe shoes! SAuch as life! Walking alot does cause alot of discomfort to my ankles but I deal mwith it! Nothing has NEVER held me back... I played basketball, and did every thing normal growing up! Kids are unstopable! At 18 years old my ortho doctor said "by the time you are 30, you'll be walking with a cane"! No cane yet nor do I see the need for one in the near future! The "club feetroas" is a long one but kids are stronger then we think! Tell your son he is in my thoughts and prayers!

Cole, my son, who was casted for the first 13 mos.of his life, then in boots and bar, took his first bsteps tonight! I am so happy for him, even though I know we are no where near being out of the woods!

Christina - posted on 01/08/2009

It does get better! How is she doing now? My son Cole, after being casted for the first 13 mos. of his life, now 17 mos, took his first steps tonight...... that's what makes it all worth it! Best wishes!

Sarah - posted on 01/06/2009

Hi everyone my daughter Lilianna has club feet, we just keep hitting walls with her, her skin just does not do soo well always getting sores and bruises she was put in to boots and bars before Xmas and then was taken out of them a week later due to severe blisters and put back into one cast on her bad foot and was alowed to keep her other foo t out, but now they need to make AFO`s for her, I feel bad for her she is always soo sore, she hates her feet being touched even socks on!! PLEASE TELL THIS GETS BETTER!!!!

Jodie - posted on 01/06/2009

Hey Christina! My son Zach has bilateral club feet and is now 4 years old. We went through the casting and bar and shoes but it didn't totally work for us and we are now going through surgery on the 20th. So I know what a roller coaster this is.



Question for you... what were your treatments for clubfoot growing up and do you have any issues now? I hope this isn't too personal. We are new to this adventure and I don't know what to expect 20 years down the road.

Dawn - posted on 12/08/2008

Wow do I ever wish I found this 8 years ago...My son was also born with severe club feet. Love to share some stories .Dawn