Travel & Medical Expenses for Justin
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Our son was born with bi-lateral club feet. I do not have a picture of his feet at birth but I have added one that shows what his looked like at birth. They immediately put casts on.
After almost 2 months of casting, his feet made minimal progress. We lived in Maine at the time. The only pediatric orthopedic surgeon was in Boston. The only orthopedic surgeon was a 45 minute drive one way. They said that surgery would be the only option. He had four surgeries starting at 3 months old. The surgeon stated that Justin's left foot needed tendons cut that he has never needed to cut on other patients. This was in 1999 before all of the new studies that were done on clubfeet.
After the surgeries, he had casts until he was 9 months old. Everything seems great. When he was almost 4 years old, his left foot started to relapse. At this time, we are living in the Houston area. When he turned 7, the doctors casted again and then put boots with a bar on. These kept sliding off.
We did go to physical therapy. They were not able to make any progress. I then took him to Shriner's in Galveston. The doctor at Shriner's told me that no matter what we do, his foot will never stay corrected due to growth spurts. We needed to wait until he stopped growing. During this time, I had no clue how to fix his feet. All the research I did was therapies from the early 1900's. Nothing changed in procedure that I could figure out. So, we waited.
He is now 19 years old. I started looking into getting his foot fixed since he pretty much has finished growing. Come to find out, we should have never waited. We should have found a different doctor (I went to at least 5 in Houston when he was 7), had corrective boots immediately after his surgeries until he was at least 4 years old. His foot is permanently pointed down walking causing him to walk on his toes.
He is in so much pain and ibuprofen does not work anymore. He also has ADHD (severe) and Asperger's. Based on what I have learned so far, the pain will get worse when he reaches his 30's and then again for his 40's and so on. I am afraid that amputation might be a probable outcome. We have always been a single income family because of all the medical issues. I have 2 kids that are special needs. I am riddled with autoimmune diseases myself. I am needing back surgery on top of the normal medical we deal with. We just don't have the capability to travel and pay out of pocket. The cost to correct his foot, if it is simple and basic, starts at $18,000 and can go up to at least $24,000 not including ortho devices, travel and medicine. His is very complex based on his 7 year old x-rays I have. This is what his foot looks like now....
I am not the type of person to ask for help. I am a fix it myself type of person but I truly don't know what we are going to do. Our credit is shot because of medical expenses and we do not have credit cards due to my husband's work was cut in half during 2014-2017. We had to sell our house. If we cannot raise the money for this, there is no way we can get his foot fixed. The only doctor who can help him is in St. Louis, MO. We live south of Houston. We need to see Dr. Dobbs.
We are also having a benefit on May 19, 2019. We truly appreciate your consideration in reading our story. Thank you.
After almost 2 months of casting, his feet made minimal progress. We lived in Maine at the time. The only pediatric orthopedic surgeon was in Boston. The only orthopedic surgeon was a 45 minute drive one way. They said that surgery would be the only option. He had four surgeries starting at 3 months old. The surgeon stated that Justin's left foot needed tendons cut that he has never needed to cut on other patients. This was in 1999 before all of the new studies that were done on clubfeet.
After the surgeries, he had casts until he was 9 months old. Everything seems great. When he was almost 4 years old, his left foot started to relapse. At this time, we are living in the Houston area. When he turned 7, the doctors casted again and then put boots with a bar on. These kept sliding off.
We did go to physical therapy. They were not able to make any progress. I then took him to Shriner's in Galveston. The doctor at Shriner's told me that no matter what we do, his foot will never stay corrected due to growth spurts. We needed to wait until he stopped growing. During this time, I had no clue how to fix his feet. All the research I did was therapies from the early 1900's. Nothing changed in procedure that I could figure out. So, we waited.
He is now 19 years old. I started looking into getting his foot fixed since he pretty much has finished growing. Come to find out, we should have never waited. We should have found a different doctor (I went to at least 5 in Houston when he was 7), had corrective boots immediately after his surgeries until he was at least 4 years old. His foot is permanently pointed down walking causing him to walk on his toes.
He is in so much pain and ibuprofen does not work anymore. He also has ADHD (severe) and Asperger's. Based on what I have learned so far, the pain will get worse when he reaches his 30's and then again for his 40's and so on. I am afraid that amputation might be a probable outcome. We have always been a single income family because of all the medical issues. I have 2 kids that are special needs. I am riddled with autoimmune diseases myself. I am needing back surgery on top of the normal medical we deal with. We just don't have the capability to travel and pay out of pocket. The cost to correct his foot, if it is simple and basic, starts at $18,000 and can go up to at least $24,000 not including ortho devices, travel and medicine. His is very complex based on his 7 year old x-rays I have. This is what his foot looks like now....
I am not the type of person to ask for help. I am a fix it myself type of person but I truly don't know what we are going to do. Our credit is shot because of medical expenses and we do not have credit cards due to my husband's work was cut in half during 2014-2017. We had to sell our house. If we cannot raise the money for this, there is no way we can get his foot fixed. The only doctor who can help him is in St. Louis, MO. We live south of Houston. We need to see Dr. Dobbs.
We are also having a benefit on May 19, 2019. We truly appreciate your consideration in reading our story. Thank you.
Organizer
Justin Thomas
Organizer
Pearland, TX