ClubFoot, is a condition in which a newborn baby’s feet appear to be rotated internally at the ankle. The foot points down and inwards and the soles of the feet face each other. Treatment for clubfoot involves series of plasters, special boots and often also involves surgery of the heel cord (tenotomy). Today on the occasion of World ClubFoot Day, Mrs. Sandhya Dubey shares with us, her story as a ClubFoot Mom:

Myself, Sandhya Dubey, proud mother of two boys Advik & Adhrit. Adhrit is the younger one & 3 years old now.

The day, 5th May 2014, God has blessed us with the most beautiful gift of my life. My mother-in-law saw him first in our family. She was so happy that she could have conquered the world with her sheer happiness & enthusiasm. But, then she was the first again to notice that his right leg was different, a bit more inclined inwards. As the day progressed, all family members were joyous but with concerns & speculations.

The very next day, we got the appointment of Dr. Mandar Agashe, who was luckily available in same hospital. He came, inspected Adhrit thoroughly and did the most important thing first. He made us understand about ‘Club Foot’ and assured that it can be treated completely with proper medication & follow ups. We were fortunate that treatment started early & first plastering/casting was done very next week.

First four plastering/casting were scheduled each week & completed thereafter. Then the next step was minor surgery for ‘Heel Cord’.

Next challenge came with 3 weeks of fiber plastering/casting. Those were indeed tough days to see our one-month baby go through all this. The way Adhrit was dealing with all this and making us happy with his tiny smiles, he earned a nickname ‘Fighter’ in our family.

Then, the next challenge was to make Adhrit wear ‘Magic Shoes’ for continuous long 23 Hours. Adhrit, as usual, happily co-operated at each stage. This phase was till the day he become 6 months old.

From here-onward, our task become easier as Adhrit needed to wear his ‘Magic Shoes’ only when he was sleeping i.e. mostly in night. And, this is the same time, where his journey got a new turn from ‘Fighter’ to ‘Rock-star’.

Adhrit amazes us every time as he beats his elder brother Advik and even many of his other co-age infants on each natural comparison among kids. He is not only the ‘Rock-star’ in our family, rather his energy is contagious and makes him popular wherever he goes and whomever he meets.

To conclude, we are very much thankful to Dr. Mandar Agashe in our life. Having him at our side & with family support, we just needed to follow his advice & experience our child’s journey from ‘Fighter’ to ‘Rock-star’.