Talipes Ireland

KarenK · Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 3

Hi my daughter Katelyn was born on 28.01.08 with structural talipes of her right foot. she was seen by orthapedic surgeon when she was 1day old he gave me stretching excersizes to do and gave me an app to come back in 3 weeks. went back stretches had made no difference so he said he'd hav to refer her to galway for treatment. finally she got 1st app when she was 3months old. the consultant said she needed surgery and would be called in august when she'd be 6mths old. well it ended up she wasn't called 4surgery untill october. anyway she had soft tissue release. her wound wasn't stitched and she was put in plaster up to her hip and looking at the cast her foot was in proper position. she was let home that evenin with an app to hav cast changed in 2 weeks.the poor little mite must hav been in agony but she was very gud. so she had cast change & i was really taken aback when i saw her huge wound but doc was happy and put on new cast. she had another cast change in 2weeks, then 3weeks and again in3weeks. the final cast was on for 4weeks and then she went into denis browne boots&bar she was in those 23 hrs a day for 4 months and now she just wears them at nite. she has a slight limp, a fairly big scar and there's a size & a half difference in her feet but besides that she is doin really well she is 21mths old now &she's running round the place. all the stories ive been reading hav all been treated by ponsetti method and im just concerned about how katelyn will be in the longterm. i no i should hav done research in the beginning but i just believed everything the doctors told me. so please anyone that had there child treated in this way would you let me no how u got on?

Ciara · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 56 Location: Co. Wicklow

Hi Karen,
Did you try the Steps website and forums? Some children there may have had the same treatment as your daughter. Hope you fnd some information there and good luck.

Ciara

KarenK · Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 3

hi ya. i hav but no all seem to hav had ponsetti treatment. just thought there would be someone else that has been treated in galway on this forum! Smile

Maz · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Galway

Hi Karen

My son Charlie was originally being treated in Galway but after a bit of research I decided against surgery in Galway and got a referral to Crumlin for the Ponsetti treatment. Was Katelyn having physio in the hospital? If so, maybe you could ask if they have any support group or any parents you could get in touch with who had the treatment previously. I know how anxious you must be.

If you ever want to chat with someone nearby, I'm in Galway so just pm me.

all the best
Mary

KarenK · Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 3

hi mary
thanks for replyin. im really kickin myself for not doin all this research sooner, hind-sight is a great thing isn't it?!! no katelyn has had no physio or xrays or anything like that. thats what got me looking it up to be honest. am going to go and speak to my gp nxt week and see if i can be refferred to crumlin for a second opinion. how is charlie doin?
thanks
Karen Very Happy

Maz · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Galway

Hi Karen

I'm surprised Katelyn didn't have any physio, Charlie had physio and strapping from approx 4 days old until I decided to get a 2nd opinion, but mind you they said originally he had mild positional tev and would not need surgery just a bit of physio and then as time went on first they said maybe surgery and then almost definitely surgery so that's when I found out about Ponsetti. What ortho surgeon did you have in Galway?

Charlie is doing great, he is 3.5yrs now and flying around the place. He still wears boots at night, but will be out of them in March when he's 4 and he has never really minded them except for the first few days - he was already crawling as he was that bit later being treated than a lot of babies referred directly to Crumlin.

To put your mind at rest a little bit, I know when we first went to see Dr Fogarty in Crumlin he said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the traditional surgical treatment and that the care Charlie would get in Galway would have been fine so don't beat yourself up about it. I only by luck found mention of the Ponsetti treatment on Rollercoaster and followed up on it from there. We do tend to believe what doctors tell us don't we !

Mary