You can see the extra skin on his right foot on the first picture, which my doctor assures me will go away as his foot continues to grow. He is in size 6 wide shoes (he has big feet!) and our doctor believes he will remain flat footed like his father.
Thankfully, to this point Jamie's foot has corrected well and our doctor has been pleased with his progress. He is wearing the brace 12 hours at night consistently, and we don't know for how much longer. Our doctor seems to be very wary of giving false hope or promises and therefore is avoiding the question. We have our next checkup at the end of this month since we go every 3 months, so I'll keep you posted. You can see in the above picture the red marks that are always on the top of both of his feet from wearing the shoes. These do not ever seem to bother him and have been there since almost the beginning of wearing the bar.
One of the worst parts of the treatment process was the tenotomy - such a simple procedure, but so hard for the parents to handle! The picture above shows the scar on his right heel from the surgery, which has been about that lightly visible since he initially healed.
The best part of the treatment is the freedom that it has given Jamie - he is a happy, goofy, loving child during the day and not too unhappy at night either. I actually always assumed that he couldn't really walk in his full get up and the only reason he was able to stand in his shoes and Dobbs bar was because he was standing on the soft surface of the crib. To my surprise, it turns out he can walk on solid ground too! Maybe as we start to look at potty training in the next year it won't be as hopeless as we thought!
Speaking of hope, it is my hope that seeing these pictures will encourage any of you currently in this club foot journey with your child. We are maybe a year ahead of some of you - which in baby development terms is a drastic difference, but believe me, I remember in excruciating detail the beginning of this walk. So see my baby's scar, red marks, extra skin, and big smile, and look forward to the day that is coming when you will be there too.
This is a guest post from Victoria, who has been a bloggin' machine for Faith Feet & Love. She's previously written an Our Story feature as well as sharing some advice about the Importance of Humor when dealing with clubfoot. We want to thank Victoria for writing such an awesome guest post! If you'd like to write a guest post, please contact us for more details
Thanks for visions from the future! We've finally hit that 12 hour window, and we've really loved a much friendlier / less needy Eli.
ReplyDeleteHow often did you get new shoes for Jamie? Eli is at 6 months, but sporting a 12-month's body. And we're wondering if we need to start pushing for an upgrade in shoe sizes.
Jamie was the same way, he was 20 pounds at 5 months. We get new shoes every 4-6 months depending on his growth spurts. I just snapped the bottom leather strap on his club foot shoe though, so maybe sooner rather than later this time! I usually call the orthotic guy's office when his toes are at or just hanging over the end of the shoes. Our guy said that actually their toes can hang off for a while and it doesn't seem to matter, but since our insurance will cover them I just go ahead and get him the next size ordered. That way Jamie will really need them by the time they clear insurance, get ordered, custom made, and sent back.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fast response! I'm thinking we'll need to take a look at getting the next sized shoes. Eli has been furiously fighting sleep at night and I think it's (partially) because the shoes are starting to pinch in on him around his legs and top of his feet. We just had Eli weighed, and he came in at 20.2 lbs. Who needs to go to the gym?!
ReplyDeleteOMG, he is so lovely I wana adopt him and I promise I will buy him good shoes as I can see he has wide feet, So I would buy a pair of wide walking shoe.
ReplyDeleteWow, I can't believe he is in size 6 wide shoes!! This feet is very big. So Lillian you can really buy him wide walking shoes . Its a good work.
ReplyDeleteTime and time again you have probably thought about getting wide fitting shoes for women but one thing or another has kept you from getting around to actually making the purchase. Find out more about why ladies wide shoes help your feet.I find this website for Womens Extra Wide Shoes you can visit this site.
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