When Everett came along I was in an entirely different place
    with the whole clubfoot thing.   After the two and a half year
    long ordeal I'd been through with Brian, I was just kind of done
    obsessing.  I knew what it was, I knew where to go, I knew how
    to deal with it...  It was mostly a non-issue in my mind by then,
    therefore I didn't really catalog any of the events.

    He was two weeks old when we loaded up the van and drove
    to Iowa City to see Dr. Ponseti.   We stayed three weeks in the
    Ronald McDonald House.   Everett was casted in to
    correction with the typical five casts and tenotomy.  Chriss
    stayed with Everett during the tenotomy while I waited in the
    hall with Brian, who was five years old at the time.  We spent
    that night in the Ronald McDonald House, then began our
    fourteen hour drive home to Oklahoma  the next morning.

    When we removed that last set of casts at home to begin the
    FAB wear, we put Everett in the Markell  FAB (for photo
    identification click the link "Clubfoot Braces").   It was a night
    mare.  He screamed.  His feet developed blisters and pressure
    sores.   We returned the shoes and were given a replacement
    pair.  Again, he was assaulted with pressure sores.

    I called Dr. Ponseti in dispair.   "You need to call this man."  
    Dr. Ponseti told me in his thick accent.  "He has made a shoe
    that fits like a glove."  I called the man - John Mitchell.  He
    was in the process of developing a new style of FAB.  Unlike
    other FAB makers of the time, John was working directly with
    Dr. Ponseti to ensure this FAB would work in conjunction with
    the Ponseti Method of clubfoot correction.

    John sent Everett a prototype of the FAB, and as they say, the
    rest is history.   The Mitchell-Ponseti FAB did indeed fit like a
    glove.  Everett never had another FAB-related issue.  He's
    currently wearing his fourth pair at 3 and a half years of age.
               
Click photos below to enlarge them.
Everett's Page   
Everett - 4 days old
4 months old, our little "Elf".
Visiting a butterfly garden, age 2
Helping Mom with laundry
18 months, petting a
deer at camp
First Birthday
Just rolling in from a round trip to Iowa
and back to Oklahoma for a
Ponseti-Check up.  Brian 5, Everett
about a year and a half.
Everett, 2, wearing his Mitchell FAB
 hugs Garrison 1 month old in
Ponseti Casts, Iowa City Ronald
McDonald  House
Don't try this at home!
Boating at Lake Tenkiller
A free bottle of Hotel lotion makes a
long car ride more interesting.
Everett and Garrison in their
matching Mitchell FABs.
First pony ride.
Everett is fishing at Brian's Cub Scout
Camp out.  Age 2
Everett began learning archery at two
years old.
A little fun waiting on the french fries to come.
Everett's feet at 3 years old - a
little banged up from playing
outside barefoot, but otherwise
perfectly normal.

    I feel like Everett is a true walking testament to Dr.
    Ponseti and the Ponseti Method.   Being born with
    clubfeet has never slowed this child down.   He's a
    spunky, adventurous little nut with absolutely no
    physical handicap whatsoever.   I urge parents of
    children born with clubbed feet to seek prompt
    Ponseti Care, then move on with their lives in a
    normal fashion.   There is no disability here, no
    defect, no permanent deformity - no reason these
    kids can't enjoy a healthy active life.

    Much of that healthy active life will depend heavily
    upon the parent's frame of mind.  If you raise a
    child to be handicapped, he or she will be.  That
    mental idea of being disadvantaged is going to
    handicap your child worse than any physical
    deformity.   Clubfeet don't have to identify your
    child, and they won't unless you allow them to.  
    There is so much life after clubfoot - get out there
    and live it!

    s.r.
Bow-fishing with Mom (and Dad taking
the photo), age 2 1/2).
Return to top of  Everett's  Page

Six-Feet.com
Everett - age 3 1/2 kayaking the ocean at
Cedar Key Florida.  June 2007.  

This is not a clubfoot photo -
this is a photo of a kid enjoying the smug
satisfaction of being a boy in a boat!
4 Years Old.   Everett will continue to
wear his Mitchell FAB until it is
completely outgrown rather than
quitting on his 4rh birthday.
Watch little Evey go on these funny
little clubfoot videos, click here.