Today we meet the surgeon.

DS is being treated for unilateral talipes. Or clubfoot. It's been a long road, full of hurdles to overcome. Mostly public hospital staff unwilling to deviate from their preferred treatment, and unwilling to offer any alternative. Followed by a lengthy delay by seeing a physiotherapist who I now realise did not have the knowledge to treat him at all. A whole year was wasted with her wishy washy treatments. :(

It's taken almost six months for us to get to this point. Three months waiting for an appointment with the best physiotherapist I could find. Six weeks after that waiting for an appointment to meet the best surgeon she could find us. Today is the day.

I'm so nervous. The physio has warned us that this dr can be hard-headed, and we may face judgement for the delay in DS's treatment. She was very understanding when we explained the lack of guidance and support offered by the hospital I birthed in. I also gave a brief history of the traumatic birth experience, to which she responded by putting her hand on my shoulder and nodding in understanding. I love her already. She made me feel a lot better about the things I was beating myself up about.

Honestly though, I don't need any more judgement. And I don't want to fight any more medical professionals for adequate treatment. I can quietly feel the rage building that now I may have to fight for my son this time instead of myself. I'm tired. I'm still tired from the birth! :rolleyes: But I have a plan. If I'm met with harsh criticism, I will firmly tell this dr that we are not open to hearing his opinions on our parenting and decisions made thus far in regards to his treatment. We are there to receive proper guidance and support, and for our son to receive the treatment he needs to have a normal life. Then I will beg him to operate sooner rather than later.

Solid enough, yes? At least this time I won't be drugged or vulnerable myself. I guess this time I'll have the strength to fight with the fire necessary to get my baby what he needs. DP will be there, so I'm hoping that his death stare is enough and I won't have to launch into battle mode. For now though, I'm going to hold onto the hope that I won't need to fight this time. But the fear is there, as always.

Wish us luck.........................................

loads of goodluck for today :goodluck: i hope that you get a plan to move ahead for your DS ASAP.

I think the best thing to say to grumpy doctors is - "so what do we do now?".

There may also be an element of wanting to be very sure that you will follow through with post-op care, even if it is arduous and sometimes distressing for Axel - so "how you parent" does matter a bit here, in the sense that for surgery to be effective you may need to sometimes be tougher than you would like to be with your son.

All the best. Being grumpy is I think almost a requirement for orthopaedic surgeons - don't lose your cool.

Best of luck. Maybe the Dr will be supportive and you won't have to go into battle. Just put it out there and hopefully things will start to happen from here. Sounds like it's been a long Rd for you.

Best of luck, hope you get the answers and the treatment you want.

How did you go?

I hope the Drs appointment was everything you hoped for and you have a plan in place for your boy.

Hope it went better than you expected today.

how did it go?? i hope they were supportive and gave you a good path to follow. i hate the thought of them making it harder than it should be for you!! after everything.....

Thinking of you and your family. I hope the Dr was able to help your DS and didn't give you any attitude.

All the best.
Jubear

I really hope you got good results today :hug:

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unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. its not.
Dr Seuss

Well!! Good news all round, it seems. The surgeon is wonderful. Understanding and supportive of our choices. He also is not a fan of ponsetti treatment, which is great because we all agree for once. He will operate on DS as a public patient, in the Mater. I will be staying with him. Most kids are in only one night.

As for the op, we start at the top of the list, with an achilles release. A half cast will go on, and be completed the next day once swelling goes down. Casts are to be replaced every 2 weeks, minimum 6 weeks. He examined DS and said he is perfect in every way, except the one affected foot joint. DS responded well to the dr touching him, he was very gentle and caring, unlike others in the past. No crying from DS or mummy, lol.

We're on a cancellation list, so surgery will hopefully be done by the end of the year. Notice will most likely be very very short. But that's ok. The process of bracing begins when the last cast comes off. It'll be a single boot, which closes on hinges. Marvellous. DS should be walking very soon. He'll be reasessed regularly, and likely require further surgery as he grows, until he reaches maturity. It's a long road ahead, but knowing what lies in our path makes it easier.

Now let's all collectively put out the vibe to the universe for a speedy resolution here. Thanks for your support, ladies.

That is fantastic news!

I just saw this thread, that sounds great!

Wonderful news and so glad your Dr is a gem.
All the best
Jubear

Hope all goes smoothly for your DS. Glad that you are feeling positive about the whole experience with the surgeon.

Yay! that sounds like you have found the best care provider for your DS! what great news!

FWIW i have friend with a child that has had to have surgery on both feet and is now walking assisted in his boots! this was a kid that they said would never walk, so it is pretty amazing what they can do these days...and what our wee little kids are capable of doing ;)

I'm so, so pleased that you've got a supportive, caring surgeon, and the care plan sounds ideal to me!

yeehaa! that's awesome, Im so happy for y'all.
so good to have the plan of attack and to have such gentle supportive carers is all you can ask for.
awesome

Thanks everyone :) A supportive and understanding Dr is all I've wanted for a long time. I figure I've earned it...... lol.

We've done a few things also in preparation for his operation. First thing was changing to a toddler bed before all the big changes start. He can also get in and out of bed on his own already. I'm hoping he'll feel like he has more freedom being able to move around his room freely and play in the mornings etc, casts on or not.

The second thing was a change of kindy, to a much better equipped centre. They also have an Occupational Therapist on site on certain days, and cater for children with special needs. (kids with autism, etc) He'll simply receive better quality care. That and my sister works there, whom he loves and trusts and I can already see the change in him after just a week there.

Next we've been encouraging communication and talking. He's started pointing and grunting, so my aim is to enhance his skills in that area so that when we're faced with mobility challenges or limitations, his ability to express what he wants or needs will eliminate a lot of upset for both of us. I think it's working, as last week he said his first sentence. "I want Dadda".

I'm trying to come up with some more ideas of ways to prepare him. But so far I think things are going as well as I could possibly ask for. :)

Just read all of this - so glad you seem to be getting a good break for once! Hope the progress keeps up.

Is it unhealthy that I'm sitting here quietly cringing and waiting for an obstacle to pop up? Must. Think. Positively!!

sending hugs and positive thoughts

you deserve it to all go smoothly, the universe owes you that ;) glad you have a path and are geared up for it all. hope you get in really quickly and can he can get on the path to walking soon!!! hugs. sending positive light.

fantastic news, isn't it funny, just when you were all gee=ed, up, ready to go into battle for your lad, you didn't need to? ironic.

so glad you have found Excellent Physio and now Excellent Surgeon. Great to hear their positivity and understanding.

bring on the waiting game, only three months to the end of this year (yikes)

Thanks girls :)

Oh I know Gigi, I chuckled the whole way home thinking how pumped I was for battle lol. So glad I didn't need to though. It's taken me almost 6 months to get those two appointments, so I figure the 3 month wait should be a piece of cake. If it's even 3 months. Who knows. I have to admit the not knowing when it's going to happen part is a bit scary, but when I think about what real fear feels like, I give myself a mental slap and tell myself to harden up. This should be the easy part. DS is such a little trooper these days, I'm confident all will go well.

In other news, he's trying to walk despite his foot! Yesterday on three occasions he let go of me or the lounge and balanced for a few seconds, without falling. AMAZING! I'm so proud of his ability to overcome his limitations. I can't believe how adaptable and clever he is. :heartbeat: So so proud of my precious boy right now!

my bro started walking before his ops, and broke 3 lots of plasters after the op walking in them. i had mine earlier (and was a late walker) so it was a bit easier on mum.

Wow! Lucky the plasters will be replaced every two weeks. He's a bit rough and tumble, that boy of mine... lol. Better brace myself for that!