Hello People,
I have been in this forum for a long time now. But I am not sure if everyone
knows me. Well let me introduce myself here.
I am from Singapore (originally from India)and I have a daughter who is 11
months old now. She was born with Bilateral Talipes Equinovarus. From the first
day we started her treatment with an orthopedic doctor here in Singapore. The
treatment involved plaster casts below the knees. This treatment continued
for around 18 weeks without any significant change in the foot. Actually, Anoushka
had only mild to severe clubfoot. We had no incidence on either side of our
family. Upon examination we were lucky to find that Anoushka had no other underlying
issues both physical or neurological.
In the mean time, I was collecting as much information as I could about clubfoot
on the Internet. I found Dr. Ponseti's research work on the net and tried to
study it. When we spoke to our doctor here in Singapore he said to us that
it would require Anoushka to go through a operation. We wanted to avoid the
surgery since it can be painful to both the parents as well as the child. This
is when I started collecting information about a possible visit to the U.S
for my daughter's treatment.
At this moment I was unaware of the cost involved for the medical attention
and the travel. Hence, I accepted the help of people like Martin Egbert who
had been in this forum for quite a while too. He was quite experienced with
Dr. Ponseti's method of treatment. What I read from the research papers was
quite unbelievable. The fact that Dr. Ponseti has treated most of the kids
within a few weeks and avoided surgery in maximum number of cases. I made up
my mind to get Anoushka to Dr. Ponseti.
Soon after, I contacted Dr. Ponseti through his research assistant and his
secretary. When I left a message with his secretary, I was surprised that Dr.
Ponseti himself returned the call very same day. I discussed with him in detail
about Anoushka. (She was 3 months now) and her treatment. I was very comfortable
with the way Dr. Ponseti explained the treatment. He assured me that the treatment
will be over in 3-5 weeks! This was amazing.
Next week we were in Iowa City. Dr. Ponseti saw Anoushka on September 17th
1999. After her first plaster was taken off we could see a 70% of difference
on her feet. Which our doctor in Singapore couldn't achieve in 18 plasters
and 18 weeks of treatment. She had another round of 2 more plasters before
her heel cord (tenotomy) release on October 4th 1999. This process was also
painless and Anoushka didn't go through any kind of pain.
The whole treatment took almost 5 weeks. On October 18th 1999, Anoushka got
rid of her plaster casts once and forever. She had a new pair of shoes, which
she will need to wear continuously for 3 months. After these 3 months she will
need to wear the shoes only during the nap times.
Its been 7 months now since we have been back in Singapore, after a long holiday
in the U.S. Anoushka is quite comfortable with the shoes now. We are happy
to see that she will be walking at the right age. At the moment she manages
to stand with support and walk around in her playpan.
Last but not the least I have to thank everyone who helped me along.
Please do not hesitate in contacting me for any further information.
I would be more than pleased to reply to all your queries.
Regards,
Babul D. Bhatt
e-mail: babulbhatt@hotmail.com
Tel: (65) 97397492
Off: (65) 374 4394
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