I have a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. It is near and dear to millions world wide. Why? Because it is an amazing organization that educates about and treats one of the most common, and easily treated birth defects.
Clubfoot, or talipes equinovarus, occurs in approximately one in 1,000 live births. I was born with extremely severe bilateral clubfoot, and my youngest daughter was born with moderate unilateral clubfoot. The birth defect itself is where the similarities between my daughter’s clubfoot and mine end.
My clubfoot treatment was long and painful. It began at the age of three months and consisted of a total of 9 surgeries and years of wearing casts, braces and special shoes. The correction of my clubfoot was never 100% complete or correct, and while I enjoyed relatively normal childhood and teenage years, the incomplete correction began to take its toll as I got older. Now, at the age of 35, I am legally handicapped and in pain a good deal of the time. I will never again know what is like to walk around the mall or hike, or go dancing without pain, sometimes severe pain, at the end of my days.
My daughter, on the other hand, was treated using the Ponseti Method of clubfoot correction. She has had no surgeries, no pain, and her correction is 100% complete. She will have no scars, no memory of her treatment, and no pain later in life because of her birth defect. I am tearfully thankful for Dr. Ignacio Ponseti every time I see my two year old hiking up a mountain with her father and siblings, and running ahead full speed to play. The gratitude that a parent feels when they know that their child will lead a normal and pain free life, despite a birth defect, is overwhelming. In addition to my gratitude, is the complete awe that Dr. Ponseti turns 95 this week and is STILL SEEING PATIENTS! He is a true testament to the power of healing, and what it can do for the healer as well as his patients.
I decided long ago that I would do my small part in spreading the word about this incredible treatment method and do all I could in helping to further the education and use of it. To that end, Dagny’s Promise hosts an annual fundraiser for the Ponseti International Association .
We host the fundraiser at our online store during September (both my and my affected daughter’s birth month), and usually have a wide variety of goods for the home an family up for raffle, auction and purchase. If you are interested in more information on our fundraiser, or would like to donate, please email me at info@dagnyspromise.com .
If you would like more information or to talk about clubfoot and the things you can do to make caring for an infant with clubfoot easier, you can email me anytime at all! Below are some other fantastic resource and support links for the parents of a child with clubfoot:
http://www.ponseti.info/parents/
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/nosurgery4clubfoot/
