Clubfeet

hi this is my first attempt so bear with me. My name is Jim and I was born with bilateral club feet or talipes to use the medical term. Most people unless you have the condition or know a close family member with it don’t know anything about it. Club foot is a deformity in which a child’s foot is turned inward, often so severely that the bottom of the foot faces sideways or in my case upwards. Approximately 1 in every 1000 live births will have club foot making it one of the most common congenital (present at birth) foot deformities.

Now these days the ponsetti method is used to treat this condition which is the stretching of the feet and bones within a few weeks of being born, this is done because at this time the bones are so soft and can be manipulated into proper shape but will still need some form of artificial assistance most commonly used is the boots and bar method this is thought to be the most effective and less intrusive and painless method.

When I was born in the 70’s this was not the method and it was felt that surgery was the best method sadly us chubbies beg to differ as I have had over 50 operations now to try and correct this and in my 40’s I am in a lot of pain everyday. A lot of club feet sufferers when the get to a certain age and the pain gets unbareable will ask to have their leg amputated because it’s just that painful. Thankfully with the ponsetti method if done correctly reduces the amount of pain in later life. You will probably still have some more arthritic type pain that can be sometimes easily treated but for us older clubbies the pain is just so severe.

i was getting to that stage and through an online group for clubfeet was put in touch with a clinic called the blatchford clinic which specialise in amputees and making artificial limbs and was told about a thing called the momentum brace. I got in touch with them and they were very supportive but my heart sank when I was told how much this was going to cost as it’s done privately and not on the nhs. Each brace costs £4000 then £150 for each consultation and as I would have to travel from Scotland to either Sheffield or Basingstoke there would be travel and accommodation on top of all of that so I ended up on a bit of a depressed state thinking I’m never going to afford that kind of money.

I spoke to a couple of friends about it and 1 of them suggested doing a go fund me page which I wasn’t sure about at first I mean those types of things are for people raising money for genuine charities I thought, so I looked at some of the fundraising that was happening on it and I decided to start a page and if people wanted to donate good and well but I didn’t hold out much hope but to my amazement my friends and family had no problem giving me a donation with my 2 bosses stepping upto the plate and giving me a large chunk of it. i made the appointment with blatchford and got fitted with the brace on my worse leg and Peter (ortho specialist) and bill (physio) are amazing talked me through absolutely everything after me explaining what I had went through growing up and the pain I was in.

It’s made of a carbon fibre mixture and allows me to walk, run and drive all with it on and the difference is like night and day. It takes a bit to get used to but so worth it the pain score when I have it on is way down at 1 or 2 compared to 9 or 10 when I haven’t. It’s not just about the pain though when I’m not wearing it I need to think about every step and how I place my foot down, what kind of surfaces I can walk on i.e only really on flat concrete never on uneven ground. Can’t even walk on sandy beaches so I have to buy specialist footwear for that which must be suitable for the sea and public swimming pools but some in Scotland don’t allow me in with them on so get turned away.

I am about to start some exercising which I have asked a fitness friend to make me up as my hips are now starting to cause me issues along with an excercise that bill has gave me to assist with this. I am supposed to have an appointment in May but with the current pandemic I think that will be cancelled until whenever restrictions are lifted.

thanks for reading take care, stay safe and if your not a key worker #stayhomesaveslives