micheline larin's Story

Since I first posted on this site my daughter has now refused to continue wearing the boots. We have tried everything possible and she just pulls them off to the point that she is causing more pain than anything. Her doctor and I will be looking into a further surgery in November as he will not preform the surgery until she is closer to the age of 3. The club foot my daughter has is not one of the more serious one but it is still always something I think about and wonder about her future with. I would like to thank everyone for their posts and support and I wish you all the best of luck with your children :)

My daughter is now 18. She was born w/ bilateral clubfeet she was in casts from 3 days old until 18 months. During this time they did a achilles tendon lengthening to release both feet at 6 months. Then at 16 months or so she had her main surgery to put her feet in the correct position then she went into Tarso Pronator Reverse Last style shoes these shoes were to keep her feet from turning back in after the surgery. Then she took her first steps at 18 months old :O) She wore these shoes for a few years and they went into regular shoes & that was were everything started to get crazy she had (Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) braces she wore these on & off for years with regular shoes pending surgery we were told since the last one she would need to have at around 14-16 years old once she stopped growing. Well in Jan 09 she had that surgery however they did a different surgery was done they planned to do. Due to assuming this was the best thing to do.It was a reverse Jones procedure, they also moved her heel pad back into the right place it was 1.5 - to 2.0 inches backwards out of place.This placed her in a cast for 6-8 weeks she was suppose to be up and walking by now at 8 weeks but no she had not healed so stayed in the cast ( changed every 2 weeks) for a total of 9 MONTHS during this time she used a wheelchair. Then she went into a Cam walker boot for 2 months then she was not able to use a Air-Stirrup® Ankle Brace w/ a shoe do to get this her foot was too small for the smallest size they have so they put her into a special custom made one by Hanger Orthotics. That worked sorta for awhile but was not keeping her foot from moving too much and it was causing more pain while she was still healing so back into the cam boot for another month while they decided to put her into an Arizona boot (Best style AFO ever)w/ regular shoes except she now is rolling to the outside of her foot causing yet again MORE pain so they just created an old school metal brace AFO just like ( Forrest Gump wore) this attaches right to the shoe as one solid piece. She just picked this up today so I can't say how it works.But this is what I have seen over that last 18 years about 8 years ago the clinic were my daughter goes started doing Dr. Ponseti's method and I have seen this process really working well for the kids in the birth to under 5 years old group. So keep w/ it and you are your best advocate for your child. Wishing you luck.. P.S. there are times that playing was painful but up until last year not one of her friend knew she had a foot issue :O) which at 17 is a BIG Deal so she was able to do everything except run a marathon or stand on her tippy toes :O)

My daughter is now 18. She was born w/ bilateral clubfeet she was in casts from 3 days old until 18 months. During this time they did a achilles tendon lengthening to release both feet at 6 months. Then at 16 months or so she had her main surgery to put her feet in the correct position then she went into Tarso Pronator Reverse Last style shoes these shoes were to keep her feet from turning back in after the surgery. Then she took her first steps at 18 months old :O) She wore these shoes for a few years and they went into regular shoes & that was were everything started to get crazy she had (Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) braces she wore these on & off for years with regular shoes pending surgery we were told since the last one she would need to have at around 14-16 years old once she stopped growing. Well in Jan 09 she had that surgery however they did a different surgery was done they planned to do. Due to assuming this was the best thing to do.It was a reverse Jones procedure, they also moved her heel pad back into the right place it was 1.5 - to 2.0 inches backwards out of place.This placed her in a cast for 6-8 weeks she was suppose to be up and walking by now at 8 weeks but no she had not healed so stayed in the cast ( changed every 2 weeks) for a total of 9 MONTHS during this time she used a wheelchair. Then she went into a Cam walker boot for 2 months then she was not able to use a Air-Stirrup® Ankle Brace w/ a shoe do to get this her foot was too small for the smallest size they have so they put her into a special custom made one by Hanger Orthotics. That worked sorta for awhile but was not keeping her foot from moving too much and it was causing more pain while she was still healing so back into the cam boot for another month while they decided to put her into an Arizona boot (Best style AFO ever)w/ regular shoes except she now is rolling to the outside of her foot causing yet again MORE pain so they just created an old school metal brace AFO just like ( Forrest Gump wore) this attaches right to the shoe as one solid piece. She just picked this up today so I can't say how it works.But this is what I have seen over that last 18 years about 8 years ago the clinic were my daughter goes started doing Dr. Ponseti's method and I have seen this process really working well for the kids in the birth to under 5 years old group. So keep w/ it and you are your best advocate for your child. Wishing you luck.. P.S. there are times that playing was painful but up until last year not one of her friend knew she had a foot issue :O) which at 17 is a BIG Deal so she was able to do everything except run a marathon or stand on her tippy toes :O)

my son was born with typical severe club feet bilat. one heel was hi and the tendon was cut to release it but the other one was ok. that was 1/2/07 and he now runs and jumps and climbs with ease and is great but we were very consistent with the dennis brown bar and now he is over three and we are contemplating how long to wear it. prob will stop soon based on our doctor's advice.

i am 12 years old i guess ur daughter can do alot more thn me my cluube feet stops me from doin alot of things

I have a daughter Maria Auxiliadora 7years old born with clubfeet ,she had a several clubfeet I thought that she was not be able to walk, she is doing graet had a several operacion the lastone 3years ago to realese the tendons, she runs play and do everything her feet is a little small but nothing that is desproporcional to her body . For God there is nothing imposible feith move mountains.God bless you and your baby.