If you visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lifewithkyle, you'll find a video of Kyle talking about his clubfoot journey.
Here, I'd like to share with you all the parts of his story he doesn't remember. This is a little collage I made to illustrate his journey and how far he has come since his birth. From left to right, each story illustrates a part of his journey.
Far left: Kyle's leg post op, January 2016. He had three metal screws sticking out of each leg (the third one is on the outside of his foot and not evidenced in the photo). He was fresh from a bilateral derotational osteotomy, wherein both his lower leg bones were surgically broken and rotated to further allow correction of his clubfeet.
Middle, top left: Waiting to get his full length casts off, May 2014. This was post tendon transfer, which took place in April 2014.
Second Middle, top left: Kyle the day he was born, July 26, 2010. You can see his bowed legs, his clubfeet, and even his bluish tint from loss of oxygen.
Far Right, top: Kyle just a few days ago, post castings, braces, AFOs, surgeries, etc. Nearly six years old, and at last, he stands straight. He does not and may never be physically able to do certain things, but oh my heart...look at those beautiful feet!
Far Left, bottom: Kyle and his bear Clover in the hospital December 2015. Just a day or two post BDO.
Middle, bottom: Kyle awaiting surgery with Clover April 15, 2014. This was his tendon transfer.
Far right, top picture: Kyle in October 2011, post a failed tendon lengthening procedure. He was wearing full length casts, curled up on a chair in our living room, reading a book. Kid is tough as tough can be.
Far right, bottom picture: Kyle in August 2011, his first round of Ponsetti Method casts.
Here, we have pictures of Kyle's feet sans casts and braces throughout the years. I actually made this last year (2015), so we're short a picture of this year's, but just scroll up: you'll see 'em.
Top, left: Kyle and my mother, his Lala, when Kyle was about two months old or so. You can see his bowed legs and clubfeet.
Top, right: Kyle's feet, post tendon transfer 2014.
Bottom, left: Kyle's feet, May 2015.
Bottom, right: Kyle's feet October 2015, the day we found out he would be having the derotational osteotomy after all.
We found out sometime in 2012 that Kai's feet are not the only things affected by his clubbed feet-they have affected his entire bone and muscle structure from his hips down. Not uncommon, but not something we were aware of before. The brown things on his legs here in this picture with his PCA were his knee immobilizers-meant to hold his legs straight and make him do a sort of robot walk that helps to strengthen his hips and his butt to correct his posture and help him walk more "normally." Sadly, this intervention failed. To this day, Kyle has problems with his hips and his posture which affect his ability to walk, run, jump, etc. as others do.
Here we have ourselves another collage, containing some of the pictures I couldn't fit on the other collage.
Top, left: Kyle, October 2011. Some of his first Ponsetti Method casts. Although this method has become the most popular method (and is almost entirely non-surgical) for correcting clubfeet, not every child responds to it. Kyle was one of them.
Top, right: Kyle, March 2012, happily playing with his toys, despite the heavy casts weighing him down.
Bottom, left: Rotator straps, or what I lovingly referred to as "Medieval torture devices." These were used to help fix his muscular and skeletal structure without the need for surgical intervention. As we all well know, that...did not go as planned.
Bottom, right: Kyle's feet, roughly February 2013. Rather than improving, his feet had at that point worsened. He was nearly back to where he was the day he was born. It was during that time frame that I realized it was time to push for a different method, and came to accept (though terrified) that he would most likely need surgery.
In all, Kyle has had 82 casts spanning the first five years of his life. Because his first pediatrician believed his feet would "fix themselves," Kyle was not able to get treatment for his feet until he was five months old. Due to an insurance problem, he wasn't able to continue with treatment until after his first birthday. In part, these delays helped make the situation worse. Kyle didn't walk until the end of March, 2012. Even then, as most children do when they learn to walk, he was not steady or able to walk far until nearly a year later and after rigorous physical therapy. In addition to the casts, Kyle has gone through three rounds of what we call "BnB": boots and bars, in which a clubfoot child wears braces attached to a bar, used to keep the feet in the correct position for 23 hours out of the day to start, eventually going to twelve hour wear. He has had several pairs of AFOs, or what we've referred to as "braces," to help keep his feet in the correct position as he walks. Those failed miserably.
Through it all, this child has let nothing hold him back. He is strong, he is determined, and he's faced almost everything with a smile on his face. To be his mother is an honor. To watch him grow and become a young man is a joy. To share him with all of you and see how much love this child receives humbles me.
Our journey started nearly six years ago. His journey is not over yet. He will continue to see his ortho every six months for the foreseeable future. He may relapse, as he has in the past. But we have at last reached a point in his life where surgery may finally become a distant memory, and multiple rounds of casts and interventions a thing of the past.
And without the love and support we have received over these six years, we would not have made it this far.
Thank you all for being you, and for loving my son as much as you all do. You're all wonderful. Pizza for all of you.
Here, I'd like to share with you all the parts of his story he doesn't remember. This is a little collage I made to illustrate his journey and how far he has come since his birth. From left to right, each story illustrates a part of his journey.
Far left: Kyle's leg post op, January 2016. He had three metal screws sticking out of each leg (the third one is on the outside of his foot and not evidenced in the photo). He was fresh from a bilateral derotational osteotomy, wherein both his lower leg bones were surgically broken and rotated to further allow correction of his clubfeet.
Middle, top left: Waiting to get his full length casts off, May 2014. This was post tendon transfer, which took place in April 2014.
Second Middle, top left: Kyle the day he was born, July 26, 2010. You can see his bowed legs, his clubfeet, and even his bluish tint from loss of oxygen.
Far Right, top: Kyle just a few days ago, post castings, braces, AFOs, surgeries, etc. Nearly six years old, and at last, he stands straight. He does not and may never be physically able to do certain things, but oh my heart...look at those beautiful feet!
Far Left, bottom: Kyle and his bear Clover in the hospital December 2015. Just a day or two post BDO.
Middle, bottom: Kyle awaiting surgery with Clover April 15, 2014. This was his tendon transfer.
Far right, top picture: Kyle in October 2011, post a failed tendon lengthening procedure. He was wearing full length casts, curled up on a chair in our living room, reading a book. Kid is tough as tough can be.
Far right, bottom picture: Kyle in August 2011, his first round of Ponsetti Method casts.
Here, we have pictures of Kyle's feet sans casts and braces throughout the years. I actually made this last year (2015), so we're short a picture of this year's, but just scroll up: you'll see 'em.
Top, left: Kyle and my mother, his Lala, when Kyle was about two months old or so. You can see his bowed legs and clubfeet.
Top, right: Kyle's feet, post tendon transfer 2014.
Bottom, left: Kyle's feet, May 2015.
Bottom, right: Kyle's feet October 2015, the day we found out he would be having the derotational osteotomy after all.
Here we have ourselves another collage, containing some of the pictures I couldn't fit on the other collage.
Top, left: Kyle, October 2011. Some of his first Ponsetti Method casts. Although this method has become the most popular method (and is almost entirely non-surgical) for correcting clubfeet, not every child responds to it. Kyle was one of them.
Top, right: Kyle, March 2012, happily playing with his toys, despite the heavy casts weighing him down.
Bottom, left: Rotator straps, or what I lovingly referred to as "Medieval torture devices." These were used to help fix his muscular and skeletal structure without the need for surgical intervention. As we all well know, that...did not go as planned.
Bottom, right: Kyle's feet, roughly February 2013. Rather than improving, his feet had at that point worsened. He was nearly back to where he was the day he was born. It was during that time frame that I realized it was time to push for a different method, and came to accept (though terrified) that he would most likely need surgery.
In all, Kyle has had 82 casts spanning the first five years of his life. Because his first pediatrician believed his feet would "fix themselves," Kyle was not able to get treatment for his feet until he was five months old. Due to an insurance problem, he wasn't able to continue with treatment until after his first birthday. In part, these delays helped make the situation worse. Kyle didn't walk until the end of March, 2012. Even then, as most children do when they learn to walk, he was not steady or able to walk far until nearly a year later and after rigorous physical therapy. In addition to the casts, Kyle has gone through three rounds of what we call "BnB": boots and bars, in which a clubfoot child wears braces attached to a bar, used to keep the feet in the correct position for 23 hours out of the day to start, eventually going to twelve hour wear. He has had several pairs of AFOs, or what we've referred to as "braces," to help keep his feet in the correct position as he walks. Those failed miserably.
Through it all, this child has let nothing hold him back. He is strong, he is determined, and he's faced almost everything with a smile on his face. To be his mother is an honor. To watch him grow and become a young man is a joy. To share him with all of you and see how much love this child receives humbles me.
Our journey started nearly six years ago. His journey is not over yet. He will continue to see his ortho every six months for the foreseeable future. He may relapse, as he has in the past. But we have at last reached a point in his life where surgery may finally become a distant memory, and multiple rounds of casts and interventions a thing of the past.
And without the love and support we have received over these six years, we would not have made it this far.
Thank you all for being you, and for loving my son as much as you all do. You're all wonderful. Pizza for all of you.
