It seems like I’m jumping around a bunch, but it’s for now as I catch up on the last 8 years of life with clubfoot and also how we’re living with it today.
We chose to treat Sporty non-surgically, with a method call the Ponseti method. In short, Ponseti is a series of casts that are used to manipulate the feet to a normal position. If you want a more in depth explanation, see this link.
Sporty had a stubborn left foot. The details are fuzzy, I think she had 7 casts to get into corrected positions, followed by an 8th holding cast while we waited for a spot in the OR. (Remember the hot pink cast!?!) Most children need a tenotomy after casting, this lengthens the Achilles tendon. She then spent 3 weeks in said hot pink casts while her Achilles healed. After casting she wore a brace full time until she was 9 months old (about 6 months). Then we gradually decreased wear until she was in them for 12 hours a day (mostly just at night). We stopped brace wear at 3, some Doctors recommend going until 5. We stopped at 3 because Sporty was starting to take it off at night and we had no indication of the issues to come. She never slipped a cast, never had an issue with her brace, she was a picture perfect case of Ponseti treatment. I also believed if she was going to relapse, she was going to relapse whether it was at 3 or it was at 5, it was going to happen. I had friends who stopped treatment at 2 and have never had an issue and then there was us. It took about a year when I first saw signs of relapse. So at 4 we began our relapse journey.
Sporty’s feet when she was born prior to treatment
2nd (possibly 3rd) cast
After a couple of casts, we see progress
Tenotomy casts (I’m blind!)
Sporty’s brace, this was her first weekend in the brace, it also coincided with Giants’ opening weekend and her very first Giants game. A fan was born!
Made to Run 