Dominic G's Story
my son daughter has club feetHello All,
My son Dominic, #4 of 4 children was born with bilateral club foot.
As a parent of a new infant I was most interested in the being that had been graced to me. Yes, another son, I now had three.
Dominic was special from the get go. I noted after first nursing him, that his feet "flipped up to his shins". He was born at 11:58 p.m. I asked the doctor at 3:00 what the problem was and was told that I needed to see a pediatric orthopedic specialist with subspeciality in club foot (I did not even know what that was) as soon as possible.
Dominic and I were discharged from the hospital at 6:00 a.m., just 6 hours and 2 minutes after his birth, sending us home to the wolves (meaning my three other children, all under the age of 6). We were quite busy.
Dominic and I, as well as dad got home around 7:00 a.m. and our other three children closely inspected the new addition and deemed that he could stay. They also noted the problem with his feet. By 9:00 a.m we wee trying to find the right doctor. By 1:00 p.m. (less than 24 hours old) he was in casts on both legs. Casting was no use, it did not work. We were surgery bound.
As infants are not operated on, unless the situation is life threatening before 12 weeks of age we waited, all along in casts that he clopped together all the time
Surgery #1 was done at 12 weeks 1 day old and lasted for 6 hours. How much work can possibly be done to a foot so small? Well as all on this site know, a tremendous amount. It was originally planned to do both feet in one operation, however, the surgeon ran into problems as the repair neede was very involved.
Surgery #2 occurred 1½ weeks later, this time taking longer to do as there were complications during the surgery, with his respiratory sytem. Following this surgery my son's vocal cords were paralyzed. He could not cry or make any noise. Talk about learning to read body language. We did. He has been extremely expressive since.
He remained in casts for almost two years followed by orthotics, etc. As any parent with a club foot(feet) child we all become experts at physical therapy quickly once the casts are removed.
By the time all the surgery and casting was done, Dominic was pushing 2. My son's upper body strength developed very earl on. He never really crawled, but had this rolling thing he did when he wanted to get from place to another. He also commando crawled, would have made an excellent soldier.
His determination has been very well dveloped since early times. His personality is one that will never give up. He can, always could and always will do whatever he wants, his way if need be.
Currently, he is 14 years old. We were told early on tha he would require more surgery. However, this has yet to be the case.
Incorporating appropriate stretching activities has been the key to his success. For grades 1-5 we enrolled him in an Arts School (magnet school). There he studied performing arts including dance (yes ballet, tap, modern, lyrical) - as these activities are gruelling with stretching. It served him well.
It must be noted that we were told early on that his situation would not "allow" him to "be normal" as far as what he would be able to do physically. Well whoever told us that were wrong. There is nothing Dominic cannot do.
He is presently followed at A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware, before that it was Kernan's Hospital in Baltimore. He is an absolute wonder, regarding his abilities, in doing what he wants to do. As his initial affliction was bilateral, he does not have severe leg length discrepancy. Our biggest problem is that one foot is a 5 and the other a 9. He does not competively dance anymore at this time, but is thinking about going back to it. We live at the beach so he spends much of his time in the ocean (great PT). He has been playing soccer since he was 4 and has made (through tryouts) and continues to participate on a premier team, the highest level for his age group.
What I have learned through him and all other parents should realize, is that our children know no different. Most have this inner drive be it personality, motivation, or the like that they are all successful. They do not whine, even when it hurts. They are accepting of what is. Dominic does not play the what if game. When he is growing or before/after a physical event he goes to shower and automatically does his stretching routine (that he developed to fit himself), promptly empties the hot water heater of any warm water, and then does what he wants to do physically. When they hit a roadblock such as not being in pain, or shoe size differences, taunting, they have different approaches to doing what they need to. There is nothing that he cannot do. His doctors are amazed as well that he has accomplished what he has done.
I have found a company that will work with him regarding soccer shoes. Granted, it is not his choice, we do work through returns and excessive stock, but he usally does have a choice, as long as the needed sizes are available and they only charge me for one pair. He wears orthotics that switch from shoe to shoe for is normal wear. He is a skateboarder/boogie boarder too.
Dominic is amazing. He also has a compassionate side for anyone dealing with something that makes them different or a subject for bullying/teasing. He is well liked, pursued by girls constantly and is good at whatever he chooses to do, but his disposition and inner knowledge that nothing will break him that is something most adults would envy, but is so natural for him. He is very much loved and so positive about life. He is my sunshine.
Mom
Added on 01 Jan 2008