The Pain of Expectation

I wanted to begin blogging about our experience with club feet when our son got his first casts, but that was 2 1/2 months ago. Oops! But as the saying goes: "It is better late than never".

Our story begins at the second ultrasound. The doctor determined that Braeden would have club feet, so my husband and I researched the best methods to correct his feet. Like all good researchers, we started on google! We stumbled upon the Ponsetti method. We found a doctor that was experienced in the method and when Braeden was 3 weeks old we started the first phase of the Ponsetti method - casting. Each casting session was exciting because we saw movement in both feet. My husband and I thought that everything was going so well that we just wanted to get the surgery over with, and then braces and wahlah everything would magically be perfect! Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Last Tuesday, we were at the IWK (Children's Hospital) for a follow up appointment after the surgery. By this point, my husband and I were excited about the results of the surgery. We were expecting that Braeden would be in the cheaper braces and the road to finishing the clubbed feet process was so close we could smell it. However, when the casts came off the doctor explained that the surgery didn't take as good as he would have liked, partly because Braeden has an atypical form of club feet. This means that his feet are smaller and pointed down further than they should be and he will require more intensive treatment, potentially another surgery and more expensive braces. Something both of us were not anticipating. The surgery was difficult on me because I tend to foresee the worst and there is something about knowing that your little one will be under going anaesthesia that tugs at your heart, so to hear that potentially another surgery would be more likely was devastating. I know that everything is going to be fine and this is just a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things, but currently these are the emotions I need to work through and want to put out there. Hence, the reason for this blog. 

We are travelling to the IWK sometime within the next two weeks for another check in and to get his braces on. I cannot wait to trade in the splints for braces because adjusting his feet into these splints have not been my idea of fun!