Barney's Casts

The journey that Barney has started is a pretty long one. Lasting around 5 years intensively but with a possible relapse always on the cards. But what I find so fascinating about all of this is that Barney only really had a very dodgy foot for 5 days of his life (I'm allowed to say dodgy, I'm his Mum).

When he was born, despite all my research, it was still a shock to see my perfect baby with a right angled foot. I'm not going to lie, I didn't know if I could touch it or even if I wanted to. I was so scared of hurting him. He looked odd. And it seemed that everyone that checked him over in those first few days were either fixated with it or treated it like the elephant in the room. I felt he became defined by his foot - "oh, this is the baby with Clubfoot".

So, when he was 5 days old, I took him for his first assessment with his physio team and Consultant. The night before, I cried and cried and cried. Although I knew he needed it fixing, I just wasn't ready for it all to start. As long as we were at home, I could pretend everything was ok and life would just carry on as normal. Taking him to the hospital meant no turning back. This was the start of something that would consume the following days, weeks, months and years. I would no longer have a newborn baby but I would have a baby with added needs. I wasn't ready. But I don't think you ever are.

The morning of his first cast, I knew that would be the last time I'd see his foot so bad. It was an odd feeling. I almost felt at a loss. Like I was loosing a part of my baby that made him 'him'. So I made a brash decision to head down to a Paint Your Own place and get his footprints on a ceramic tile so I'd always have a bit of the 'Original Barney'. It was flipping hilarious trying to not only paint a newborn's foot but also one that curls in on itself whilst said newborn is napping!! Thank goodness for my sister and the owner to keep mess to a minimum. Although it took a bit of explaining to the physio team as to why my baby had blue toes!!

And then he was cast. His foot manipulated further round each week and recast until he was 'normal'. The first one was the biggest difference by far. It was incredible what was achieved in just a week. And really, this is thanks to starting so early (despite my reservations). Each Tuesday, we'd wake up at 6am to run a bath and Barney and myself (and more often than not, Poppy) would get in to soak off the cast. This became a bit of an art. It took around 30 minutes to fully soak the plaster for it to be pliable enough to unravel. The first time I tried him in a baby bath with me leaning over and holding him but it was a total disaster and totally chaotic - resulting in me banging his head multiple times on the edge of the bath as I got cramp!! Getting in with him was the best way for me and it meant I could keep him calm and relaxed as I tugged on his leg and freed his little foot. It was a rather messy process and not the easiest thing to do but thankfully Barney loves his baths so took it all in his stride, plus Daddy was never far in case of accidental situations.

As you can see, the casts were full leg casts. They had bobbles on them where each plaster bandage finished so I knew where to start unravelling from. The knee was bent rather severely to stop him slipping out of it and his toes were exposed so I could check his circulation throughout the day.

I decided to write the cast number and dates on his cast just before the bath so I wouldn't forget which one was which! Now, on the 5th cast, it says 'Today is my tetonomy'. This was a procedure Barney had in order to release his tendons at his heel. Although they could bring his foot round to the right position, Barney had no movement in his foot. He couldn't move it up or down. So, he had a tetonomy which is the cutting of his tendons with a scalpel and then setting his foot back in a cast for 3 weeks with his foot bent upwards in order for the tendons to grow back longer. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined. He had his magic cream and a local anesthetic and the whole procedure took around 25 minutes. We had to stay a few hours to ensure his toes were getting enough blood to them and then that was it for 3 weeks (well, we still went back weekly to be checked as he's a fast growing baby!).

Having a baby in a cast wasn't too tricky in terms of care. If anything, he was more robust!! I didn't worry about the kids at playgroups tapping it in wonder or lifting it up shouting "what's this?". There were no issues with feeding positions and a rolled up towel under his knee provided a bit of added comfort at night. The first day of each cast was the trickiest. It changes in temperature as it dries out over the course of the day and this can really upset them. I always made sure Barney was wrapped in a blanket as the cast got colder but it was never too drastic. And, quite honestly, he carried on being a chilled out baby whilst getting the abs of an Adonis with his workout of lifting the cast! But what a job these casts did. Just look at the difference in 9 weeks:

We're so lucky to have the NHS and the medical advances we have nowadays. My baby boy has a life ahead of him that can be filled with sports and running and jumping. And I have to remind myself of this when times get a little hard and I want to stop the pain and frustration, when I want him to just experience the freedom of kicking, when I want him to be able to lie down flat and be comfortable at night. We're doing this for his future. I'm probably asking too much to get a thanks from him when he's older but to see him walk and run will be enough for me.

And anyway, it's just a bloody foot.

Sam x