A mum was left questioning herself after finding out her baby would be born with clubfeet.
During a 20-week anatomy scan, Liz Dineen was left ‘confused’ after a diagnosis confirmed her son’s condition.
According to Liz, she originally believed her son would only need a hip brace however after conducting further research online, she learned that her baby would be forced to undergo weeks of work to help straighten the feet.
She admits the journey has been ‘hard’.
Feeling ‘sad’ and ‘stressed’ by the news, she reached out to other mums dealing with the same condition.
The mum from Mokena, Illinois, USA, said: “ I saw a baby with a hip brace before and I thought it was no big deal.
“It wasn’t until I started searching online and seeing he’d need casts, a tenotomy and then the boots and bar that I really started to get sad and stressed.
“A lot of ‘why us’ questions to ourselves. I got calmer towards the end of pregnancy and accepted this is what we have to go through.”
Liz was eager for her now three-month-old son, Julian to start treatment immediately as he was treated using the Ponseti method.
This involves stretching a baby’s foot into a better position before being placed into a cast. For Julian, he was required to have an operation where his tendon is released to place the final position of the feet.
Despite doing her fair share of research and contacting other mums, Liz feared her child would never be able to walk normally.
While clubfoot, also known as talipes, affects one or both feet due to a shortened Achilles tendon, its exact cause remains a mystery. However, there is a known genetic link in Julian’s case, as his cousin was also born with the condition.
Julian’s feet were corrected after the casting and tenotomy operation – which involves the removal of tendon tissue, to help keep them in position. He has since been wearing boots and a bar in-between.
The boots are connected by a metal bar running underneath the feet, preventing the feet from returning to their former position.
Julian has been forced to endure a gruelling process of wearing the boots 23 hours a day for three months, before gradually reducing the time spent in the footwear.
Reflecting on her son’s incredible progress, Liz, a talent manager, explained: “It’s been hard on us in addition to reflux and feeding issues but during the casting process he actually never acted any different to after being casted so I don’t think those bothered him.
“I was so thankful. But each week I’d still stress because you never know if one week, he will react to them or not.
“I’m very proud and it’s crazy this was his journey but I’m so glad it’s almost going to be a memory.”