Theo Brader


Talipes Case History
Written in Spring 1998 Updated Autumn 2007 - see below for the latest news!

When our first son, Kai, arrived in the world, the birth was just as the text books describe. And he was healthy in every way, shape and form. So we expected just the same with our second child. But Theo had decided to do it the hard way.

Two weeks after he was due, I was induced. A dozen or so hours later, with nothing much happening, I sent Tan, my husband, home. Within the hour, before I had time to even get to the labour rooms, whoosh, Theo was here.

With just the midwife and me in the room, (and both of us in a state of shock with the speed of his arrival) she announced that he had Talipes. I knew nothing of the condition but was reassured when she said it may be merely positional - that is, as a result of the way Theo had been lying. In the post-natal euphoria, it didn't seem an issue as I assumed that when out of the confines of the womb, his feet would miraculously spring back. But once I had him home and was bathing him, his feet looked as if they'd had an argument with his ankles and decided to head off in another direction.

The advice was that his feet needed to be manipulated - lots of massage to keep the feet supple until it was an appropriate time for more active intervention. So while caressing his little feet, I must confess the 'Why me?', or more specifically 'Why him?', thought kept going through my head. But then a friend pointed out to me the steps address and I am not exaggerating when I say that it was like sunshine on a rainy day. Even after an initial contact a positive and informed outlook was beckoning.

Then came the sticking plaster wound round his feet, replaced once a week and tightened mid way through. Theo's feet looked fine hidden in socks but appeared tortured on Day 1 when the plaster was renewed and distinctly grubby by day 6 when the strapping was about to be removed. I became used to the 'turkey bathing' technique; that is body immersion but with feet held aloft - just as a butcher displays poultry at Christmas.

But it was other people's reactions that were the most difficult to deal with. Not that Theo was in any pain, but because his sock-free legs looked trussed like some mediaeval fashion victim. Eventually, as my husband is Chinese, I would reassure onlookers whose chins often rested on their chests on seeing Theo's feet, that everything was OK, the binding of feet was making a comeback in Shanghai.

Then came the big day when we were passed from the care of the wonderful physiotherapists at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to the orthopaedic department. I had just been to a steps conference and heard how in Holland they perform tendon release at 4 months. With Theo almost 10 months and trying to walk, I panicked and demanded an audience with the consultant as soon as possible. It's amazing that no matter how intelligent you are, when faced with a white coat your brain turns to semolina. Although not conforming to stereotype, Miss Hulme, female and about my age, knew her stuff, and when she chatted to her senior registrar, I felt like someone who had drifted into a Stephen Hawking lecture while looking for the shortest queue in Tesco.

But it transpired that Theo was just ready for surgery. In Miss Hulme's view, surgery at the time a child is trying to walk is most appropriate. The urge to stand vertical pushes the newly operated feet into the right position.

When she asked what questions I had my own voice disintegrated and I heard one not dissimilar to Mavis Riley's asking, "But will he be able to run?" Miss Hulme was honest. "Well," she replied, "He may never be an Olympic athlete, but he'll probably keep up with the others in the playground". But I'm sure she was thinking that with me at 5ft 2in tall and pushing 12 stone from the wrong side, my "perfect" feet had probably only ever run for a bus - and then reached it requiring oxygen!

There followed a series of 3 operations, when both Theo's feet where operated on and all tendons were released. He spent around 8 weeks in plaster and it was clear that the correction needed was considerable. The low spot during this time was when I handed him over to the theatre nurse dreading the anaesthetic more than the surgery. The high spot was realising that nothing would hold Theo back. Even with both legs in plaster, he could crawl (albeit like Mowgil in Colonel Hahti's parade in Jungle Book). And when challenged could wield a leg round in a way reminiscent of Bruce lee and virtually knock you out.

At each stage, the operations seemed to go well. But Miss Hulme was a pragmatist - she wouldn't really be able to tell until the plasters came off. So when that day came, we entered the hospital with trepidation. Theo never cried when the plaster technician approached him. In fact, at all stages from the initial strapping to the operations, Theo took everything in his stride - his calmness taught me how to cope. When the plaster fell away, the f'irst thing I noticed was legs that would have looked more at home on a Tyrannosaurus Rex. As Miss Hulme and the moment of truth arrived, my nerves took over and I commented on his "crusty legs" and how revolting they were. But Miss Hulme looked at me and - obviously pleased with the result - said, "Not to me. They're beautiful".

And they are. A year later, Theo can run, jump and kick with the best of them. There is a scar around each ankle which looks like a flip top heel but even that is fading. Theo may never run a four minute mile, but what he lacks in elegant gait, he makes up for in personality. What's more - the 64 million dollar question - people don't even notice that he has "a lower limb abnormality".

When Theo was going in for the operations I wished for an ordinary child with ordinary feet. But I have done better than that. I have a truly charming little man whose feet are, at last, in harmony with his ankles.

Tracey Brader

N.B. The views, statements and suggestions published on this web site are those of individuals, as such they are not necessarily corroborated or endorsed by steps. Furthermore, medical information contained within 'your experiences' has not been validated by the steps Medical Panel.