Have had a long day.
Quinn had an appointment with his orthopedic doc, and the news was not the best. I was expecting it, but it is still hurts my mind. His foot was doing so great, then he had a HUGE growth spurt and all the stretching in the world was not going to work.
Quinn will have to have surgery on his clubfoot leg. He will be getting what is called a TAL(tendo Achilles lengthening) and a posterior tibial lengthening. As far as clubfoot surgery goes, this is very minor. He will have a 1 1/2 inch incision in his calf area, and the Achilles and the posterior tibialis will be lengthened at the point of muscle insertion. He will be in the hospital for a day, then in a cast for 4 weeks, and it will be a walking cast at that.
Thank God we did the Dimeglio method, because without it, Quinn would have had major reconstructive surgery, and recurrent problems his whole life. Right now, his foot is structurally normal, meaning that all the bones are in the right place. It is also completely functional. It is just that the tight Achilles is keeping him from flexing his foot properly, and he is walking without putting the heel of his foot down all the way. If it continues, then the foot can start changing structurally, and we do not want that.
While I am aware that there are worse things that could happen and I am well aware of my blessings and how fortunate we are, I am still whacked out and trying to process this information. I can’t even begin to sort out the swirl of thoughts I am having, one of which is that we screwed up by not continuing through his 4th year with the use of the DBB brace that he wore at night. I am mentally beating myself up for this, and no amount of encouragement will make me feel better about it. There is no turning back, and I screwed up royally, IMHO. Supposedly they should not have to wear the brace after age 4, but we should have continued….I am convinced of this.
You cannot know how frustrated I feel. You could never understand how hard the 6 months of DAILY 4 hour round trips to the physical therapist were (we lived 2 hours from the therapist and doctor). This was followed by 3 more months of 3x week therapy, followed by 2 X week for another 3 months. You will never know how much love, heartache, time and effort was put into correcting his beautiful little foot. I wanted so much to avoid surgery for him, but his clubfoot was so severe, and it seems that we have always known that this time would come….no matter how far into the sand I buried my head and heart. Many tears were cried, and it seems they will continue.
I welcome questions, although I may not have all the answers yet, as my brain is frozen and in need of lots of beer to lube it up a bit. Also, I need to finish my little pity party.
(((HUGS))) I have no words to adequately convey how I feel. So I’ll just say it totally sucks. Try to be kind to yourself, you did the best you knew at the time.
I’m having a beer with you right now.
Just sending ((((Big Hugs))).
It doesn’t matter how minor the issue. When our kids are hurting or need medical attention, it is always a tough time.
{{{{HUGS}}}}
Lots of {{HUGS}} I hope that it goes as smoothly as possible for everyone.
(((Hugs))) Having your child hurt is the worst, worst thing for a good mommy. I’ll send a little prayer for Quinn and his mom.
May I add my cyberhugs and perspective? My 16 year old was born with bilateral club feet and ended up having this surgery, too. He is on his high school tennis team, has placed in state h.s. wrestling, has played little league baseball, and high school football. Of our eleven, he is the one who we make certain has good shoes. Sometimes his feet and legs get tired, but he rarely complains! His feet and legs look fine now. A week ago we noticed a young lady at the license bureau who had light surgery scars on the backs of her legs. We both noticed her sweet, optimistic demeanor and I think some of this may have come from dealing with feet difficulties as a child! Courage, hope, and God’s Peace to you!
Thank you all for your well wishes and hugs. I needed them last week. The pity party is over, and we have moved on to the task of scheduling the surgery and looking forward to the time after when Quinn’s foot will look FANTASTIC!!!
Bonnie, thank you so much for your post. It is so helpful to hear from another mom who has been there, done that. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to read about your son and all the activities he is involved in. We have often wondered how his clubfoot will affect his participation in sports and life in general.
I love your story about the young girl. It made me smile because I know that a part of Quinn’s wonderfully optimistic personality is due to his experiences with his clubfoot. Here is a funny example of this little guys need to serve others as he was served. He basically got a foot massage every day while getting his correction. Well, one of the things he likes to do for me is get the lotion and rub my feet every night, just like I used to do for him. LOL!!!
He is also outgoing and lovable. He had many strange hands rubbing his foot and tenderly splinting it in his first 4 years, and in turn, he is a very engaging, charismatic little boy to others.
I know there are great things in store for this little guy! This is just a little bump in the road!