Talipes Information and Parental Support Group
Katya's Story
TIPS Newsletter September 1997
Katya Evans
by Katya's mum, Nola Evans
How lovely to have found this site!
I should like to share with you the story of my daughter, Katya. Katya has left Talipes eqinovarus.
I have three daughters. Katya is my oldest daughter. She was born by forceps after one of those eventful pregnancies that you can bore people rigid with. However, throughout pregnancy I was absolutely convinced that there was something wrong with the baby. When Katya arrived, I grabbed her from the midwife and looked hard , and immediately saw her foot. I yelled, delighted,
"Talipes!"
and the midwives thought I was obviously mad as I was crying with relief that I had had a "normal" baby who had a non life threatening, correctable condition, after all the things I had imagined to be wrong.
When things have been difficult, I have had to remind myself of that early euphoria and that it is a treatable, if not curable, disorder.
Katya is tall, blonde, and if I say so myself, a beauty. She is also stubborn, angry at her foot, and doctor-phobic............ not a happy combination in a 7 year old who has had 3 operations and is heading towards her fourth.
Katya has left Talipes equinovarus that has affected her whole leg. We have done the range of treatments - serial plasters, splints, calipers, boots, tendon releases and recently, a release and calcaneocuboid fusion.
Unfortunately the last operation was not a success. Katya now walks with a marked limp and tiptoes when barefoot. We have seen a second surgeon who has suggested we see a third regarding a more drastic procedure which involves mechanical manipulation using pins and a cage. Katya was present when he suggested this and flipped, understandably. She cannot understand why she should go through the pain, plasters and performance again willingly, after the resounding non progress following the last procedure.
We live in the Uk. What are the treatments of choice in Australia or elsewhere for retractable talipes? I am sure there are others who have been in a similar situation, where the success of early surgery has led to disappointment as the child has got older. I need to be objective here. Katya walks, runs, skips and does all the things most children do. I think we have hit a "blip", but that the halt in her progress is temporary and requires a change in plans and not dispair....
I am as realistic as a loving parent can subjectively be. We are not looking for cosmetic perfection, only a functioning, pain free foot that offers maximum mobility. Whilst no surgery offers a guarantee of success, we are reluctant for Katya to have "have a go" surgery that will not actually improve her current condition.
Incidentally, Katya's two sisters are unaffected.
My email address is NolaEvans@aol.com