Our 6 year old was born with clubfeet, and we later found he had other medical issues with his bones, muscles and tendons. Luckily all fixable! Here’s info on his latest round of correction.
Fixing Josh’s Clubfeet (Again!)
Josh is back in casts for another round of correction on his clubfeet. He got the casts on Wednesday (2 days ago) and already doing SO GREAT! Walking around like a pro and luckily in minimal pain. He’s so resilient! We’re so proud!
I’ve shared in the past about his clubfeet, head to this post for more info. That post covers all the previous corrections he’s had up until this point.
This should *hopefully* be the last round of correction until he’s done growing and in his late teens (fingers crossed!) But since a lot of Josh’s leg issues are incredibly rare, it is possible more corrections will come up in the future. We’ve flown all over the country and seen ALLLLL the top pediatric podiatrists and not one doctor has seen a kid with the combination of leg issues Josh has. So we’re very go with the flow and approach each problem as it comes up, and just hope for the best.
Correction Information (Email We Sent to Family)
(Here is the email we sent to family to fill them in on what’s upcoming that Shawn and I both agreed we feel comfortable sharing with all of you)
- To get Josh’s feet as flat as possible so he can avoid too much feet pain in the future as an adult
- We’re starting casting 1st week of January.
- They’re short leg casts (stop below the knee) that he can walk on. This is a first! So excited about this!
- He’ll be getting new casts every week for 4-6 weeks. How many weeks depends on how well he responds to the casting.
- The goal of the casting is to slowly bend his feet bones to get them as flat as possible. Each cast will bend them a bit more.
- Once his feet are flat enough, he’ll be getting surgery on both feet. It’s a very common one, called a Tendon Transfer. They’re transferring the tendon that usually goes from his midfoot to his big toe, and moving it from his midfoot to his pinkie toe. This anchors the foot in the correct position, and helps prevent the foot from relapsing as he grows. I like to think of it as a permanent retainer that you would get after getting your braces off your teeth.
- He only needs to be in the hospital overnight for 1 night after the surgery
- After the surgery, he’ll be in full leg casts (from toes to the very top of his thighs) and he can’t put any weight on his feet for 4 weeks while he heals. We’ll have a wheelchair (and build up our muscles as we carry him around, ha!)
- Then, he goes to short leg casts again that he can put weight on for another 2 weeks.
- Then out of casts (hopefully by the end of March/early April) and on to physical therapy!
- Shawn has lots of time off, and he should be home for a lot of this!
- Josh will be doing kindergarten virtually until he’s all healed and walking again
- We’ve got a great doctor who will be doing this. This surgery is very common, so glad we found such a great surgeon nearby who is covered with our insurance!
- Josh knows about the casting and surgery coming up. We’re making it fun, and letting him know it’s MUCH easier than his knee surgery (which it is!). So far Josh is doing great with it, and he’s been able to ask any questions he has to the doctors at all the lead up appointments we’ve gone to. We’re telling him that now he’s getting Super Feet to go with his Super Knees that will let him run faster and have better balance. We’re doing positive spins on the aspects of it:
- “You get to choose the color of your casts! And you get a new one each week! Which color should we get this time?”
- “Dad is going to be home from work while you’re in casts! Where are some fun places we should all go together?”
- “We get to have your wheelchair again after surgery! Think you can still do a wheelie?”
- “Where is somewhere fun we could all go and celebrate after you’re walking after your casts come off?”
- Really nothing! We’ve done this so many times we’ve become pros at this. Ha!
- Words of encouragement are always nice! We can feel you all rooting for us and it means the world.
- If we’re quiet or slow to get back to any text or calls or making plans please forgive us! Not ignoring you, just giving all our energy to our boys!
- The same is true if we’re spotty with providing updates along the way. No news is always good news!
Thank You!
Thanks in advance for all the kindness and well wishes. Josh has got this! Our family has got this.
WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!
I hope in sharing I can help inspire all of you that you can face hard things and make it fun!
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