While I was pregnant, an ultrasound showed something wrong with my son's legs and feet.  I then had to go and get a special ultrasound which showed more in-depth pictures.  The pictures were very clear that my baby would be born with club feet.  My husband and I had to see a heredity specialist on what to expect and to find out if there could be any other problems with our son.  This specialist told us that there could be brain damage and other horrible conditions.  They then gave us the option to abort the pregnancy.  Well my husband and I didn't need to "think it over" we said no matter what we wanted our son. 

For the rest of my pregnancy we were worried sick over what could be wrong with our baby.  I found out that 2 other family members had club feet, but the doctors said the evidence was inconclusive if it was in fact hereditary. 

My first son was an emergency c-section and this pregnancy was going to have to be a c-section also.  Usually the first thought you have when your baby is born, is he/she all right?  I remember that was the first words out of my mouth and the nurse said the doctors were looking him over.  I didn't want them to look him over first, I wanted to see him first.  All the anxiety through the pregnancy, I just wanted to tell him that I loved him with all my heart and we would get through whatever was wrong with him.  Well of course that had to wait. 

The doctors said that you can usually tell if their was any brain damage or mental deformities in just looking at his face.  Our son was born with a beautiful face.  We could relax a little. 

Here is a picture of my son's feet at 3 days old: 

We were so happy that everything else was healthy, but we still worried.  Would he be able to walk?  Play sports?  Just be "normal"?  I would cry for him.  Why him?  What did he do to deserve this?  I still don't know those answers, and probably never will.

We had 2 places to go to, Children's Hospital in downtown Detroit or University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  We live right in the middle of the two, but chose U of M.  I called to make our appointment and was told Dr. Clifford Craig would be taking care of our son.  He's an orthopedic surgeon.  I asked the lady what she thought of him... was he any good?  She said he was wonderful and would trust her own children with him.  After these 4 1/2 years of Dr. Craig taking care of A.J., I would whole heartedly agree, Dr. Craig is a wonderful doctor and if you have the choice and are in this area, I would definitely recommend him for your doctor.

You need to do something immediately!  The babies bones are so soft and pliable, that fixing them is much easier and quicker as a baby, rather than waiting until their bones harden.  The bones are so soft that we needed ultrasound pictures and not x-rays.

So now we're off to the orthopedic surgeons at U of M.  I was still so sad about this happening to our child.  I was mad too!  But when we got to the hospital, I was to become aware that this was not the worst that could happen to him and us. 

While waiting in between appointments we went to a fast food restaurant (yes there was one right in the hospital!)  I started to cry while we were eating and a lady at the next table asked what was wrong with our baby.  I told her our son had club feet, and she said "I wish that was all that was wrong with my son".  She said club feet can be fixed, what was wrong with her son could never be fixed.  I don't remember the name of the disease her son had, but it was some kind of mental retardation.  Her son would never be able to talk or walk or live on his own.  I felt so bad for them, and then realized she was right.  We didn't know what the future held for our son, but at least he would be able to go to school, get any kind of job, drive a car...  It didn't make me any more happy that our son had this deformity, but it did put it into perspective.  It could have been worse for him.

Our son was put into full leg casts, from his toes to his groin area.  Here is a picture with his casts on:

Here are some photos of that doctor appointment:

   Sawing off the casts.  Will it cut him?  No, it's a special saw that won't get to the skin.  It's a little frightening to watch, but it's very safe.

   After months of doing this, we learned it was easier to give his bottle while they worked so he wouldn't fuss as much.

   Look at how much better his feet look already!

   The assistant holds his legs in place so the doctor can cast him.

  Dr. Clifford Craig carefully molds the casts.

As you can see, these are half casts.  He can bend his knees now.

After a couple months of casting, the next step was braces.  We could finally give him his first real bath!

His braces were very strange looking to us.  The shoes were worn backwards.  So it looked like he had the wrong shoe on the wrong foot.  This is so his feet would be pushed to the outside.  Then there's a brace that screws on the bottom to connect the two shoes.  One word of advice if you have the same braces, have them put padding on the brace.  Our first day with them, we saw that he would bring his feet towards his face and the brace would bump his forehead.  So they put padding on the brace so it wouldn't hurt him. 

Here is a picture of him with his brace:

Here is a picture of his first birthday:

  His sock should have been straightened, but wow what a difference a year makes!

As the years go by, it's hard to remember he even has club feet.  Yes he still had issues but take a look at these photo's when he was 2 1/2:

A.J. has had new braces, ones that are made of some kind of plastic.  I can't find any photo's with them.  But these new braces are made from the doctor's assistant putting a cast on him and then taking it right off.  They use these as molds for the braces.  They're much easier to put on (Velcro), but they are also much easier to take off, which he does on his own and often.  It's very hard to keep them on him.

Through out the next couple years, we've had numerous x-rays and check ups.  About every 3 months.  A couple months ago Dr. Craig thought A.J. needed surgery to help get his heel cord longer.  A.J. would walk on his toes - nothing that anyone watching him walk ever noticed though.

We decided to let him have Halloween and then he would have his heal cord lengthening surgery the Friday after.  After being so relaxed these years, once again we were very anxious about his condition.  I was worried about the anesthesia, how he would feel not being able to walk after the surgery, not being able to jump on the trampoline with his brother... 

The surgery lasted about 2 hours and then he went into recovery for an hour.  When we finally got to see him, his first words were "momma, my feet hurt".  My heart just broke.  I told the nurse and she gave him some more morphine.  A little later in the day he complained that just below his knees hurt, at first the nurse thought that maybe the casts were too tight.  But after consulting with Dr. Craig, he said that the cord actually goes all the way up the leg and that was the pain he was feeling.  They gave him some medicine and he was feeling better again.  Again, just like when he was born, he had casts from his toes to his groin area.  The difference now though is that he knows he can't walk or play.  His incisions are about 3 inches long, and what they did was cut his heel cord and added something to it and fusing it all together.  We stayed one night in the hospital, and he was pretty miserable.  He had a real problem going to the bathroom which carried on to home.  The casts made his legs slippery on the toilet, so they slid around and he was very uncomfortable.  Since they were full leg casts, he could no longer bend his knees to sit comfortably.  Our insurance covered a wheel chair (our cost was 28.77 per month) and a walker which they brought to the hospital for us to bring home.

Coming home... We came home with liquid Valium for muscle spasms and a medicine for pain.  Fortunately, we only had to give him one dose.  Otherwise he was pain free.  Our son is a very spirited and fun boy.  But his spirit was broken when we came home.  All he wanted to do was lay on his bed and watch videos or color.  He didn't want to sit in the living room or any other room.  His eating habits weren't always great, but now he stopped eating all together.  It's like he was depressed.  He had lot's of visitors, friends, family and neighbors all bearing gifts.  This made him quite happy finally!  We bought him a bed tray, which came in very handy.  He used it to for coloring and snacks.

Here are some photos of him in bed and in his wheel chair:

One of the problems for A.J. was that he likes to sleep curled up and he couldn't.  So he had difficulty falling asleep.  We had gotten a full size bed for him from my mom.  This way I could sleep with him in case he needed me for anything and just for the comfort of not sleeping alone during this hard time.

Twelve days after his surgery, we went back to the doctors.  They put on half casts now, which is so much easier for him.  He can bend his knees and sit normally now.  After two days, he was walking a little bit.  On the third day he was walking to the bathroom by himself and doing his thing by himself.  He's had his half casts on now for ten days and he's walking down the basement stairs holding on to the rail, walking around the house like usual.  You will probably also get leg splints.  These are made of a soft foam with Velcro enclosures.  A.J. wears his to bed, which he doesn't like because he can't bend his knees.  These help with the stretching of the heel cords.

On November 29, 2006 we had our 2 week check up.  They removed his casts and fitted him for his new braces.  What they do is put on a "sock" and draw little marks on this sock where his ankles and such are.  Then they put on a soft cast, as soon as it dries (just a couple minutes) they remove these.  These are used as molds for his new braces.  Then Dr. Craig comes in and puts on new half casts, which A.J. will wear for 2 more weeks until the braces are ready.  A.J. is a little bummed out, because he can't jump on the trampoline.  But I promised him I would take him to Toys R Us for a little goodie, since he's been so brave.

I'll be posting more photo's of A.J. and his half casts, so you can see what they look like.

As A.J. progresses, I will add to this page.  I hope you found some comfort that you and your loved one are not alone.  If you have any questions, please feel free to join my yahoo group:  Design With Renee' Yahoo Group  whenever I update my site I will send an email through this group.  It will be a low volume group.

Thank you for reading A.J.'s story :0)

Renee'

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