Ivan's Foot Page
Many have e-mailed and asked about Ivan's "bear feet," so I thought I'd add a page dedicated to Ivan's medical issues.
Before traveling, I did a LOT of research on the internet regarding various medical issues that we might be faced with. As a pastor's family with no group insurance, our insurance was not required to automatically add adopted children to our family policy. Therefore, we decided to look at children with short-term or correctible problems realizing that we were not medically trained and so were leaving a great part to God's guidance. Among the more major correctible problems we were willing to consider was club foot and cleft palate knowing that the Shriner's Hospitals usually treat these conditions and many others for no charge.
We also contacted a local pediatrician experienced with EE adoptions and chatted with her regarding conditions to accept and not accept. She gave us prescriptions for Elimite (treatment for scabies) and for an antibiotic complete with the dosing chart. She also gave us her weekly schedule and phone numbers to reach her at any time of the day or night in case we needed to ask questions while we were in Ukraine.
At the NAC, each of the orphans' pages have their medical conditions listed. Often these diagnosis are either intentionally or unintentionally incorrect, so we knew that we would need to see the children in person to verify those diagnosis.
In the director's office at the orphanage, the director through Julya told us of the available children's medical conditions and included her opinion of whether or not each child would be able to thrive in a home. Since the terminology is so different in Eastern Europe compared to the U.S., Julya often had to describe a condition in lieu of giving us the U.S. name. We were free to ask any questions we needed to, and could have requested more evaluations if we felt we needed it.
When we came to Ivan, his diagnosis list as it was later legally translated included: bilateral congenital talipes, prolapsed mitral valve, residual-cerebral insufficiency, and psycho-linguistic delay.
Many of the children in the orphanage had red, bumpy rashes that we suspected were scabies (body lice type things). Once we were back in Kiev, we successfully treated all three of us with Elimite overnight and washed all of our clothes to prevent reinfestation.
Once we came home, Ivan was put through a large list of tests and was diagnosed with several things. An innocent heart murmur disappeared in a couple of months. It was probably due to poor nutrition resulting in a lower than normal blood flow. Giardia (intestinal parasites) was treated with a prescription. The scabies rash was confirmed as being scabies - we were soooo glad we took the Elimite and didn't bring it home to Kacie, grandparents, aunts and uncles!! Three warts on his backside were probably due to poor hygiene and each one consecutively went away when Ivan's immune system was strong enough to fight them (within 6 months). The tuberculosis issue was a little longer treatment (9 months of medicine), but we did it as a precaution. Many of the EE orphans test positive for TB because of the type of vaccine used. Ivan's chest x-ray was negative, but there was no way for us to prove without a doubt that he didn't have latent TB, so we treated him.
Most of Ivan's medical issues were very short-term and easy to correct. The only major issue was his "bear feet" which we originally thought were "pidgeon toed." We were able to have Ivan seen at an Elks' clinic held at our local hospital. The Shriner's orthopedic surgeon there took x-rays of the top view of Ivan's feet showing that the bones leading to his toes were pretty much in line. He gave him the diagnosis of mild club foot and told us to keep him in good shoes, feed him well, let him run and play a lot, and love him. We were to bring him back in 6 months to see if anything else should be done. Six months later we were back, and the doctor still refused to believe that Ivan needed any more treatment. We were not convinced, so when we moved to Pennsylvania, we called for an evaluation at the Erie Shriners' Hospital.
This appointment was vastly different. The surgeon took one look and told us that Ivan had partially corrected club foot. The Ukrainian doctors had done the necessary series of casting when Ivan was an infant and had done an excellent job of positioning the feet. This explained why Ivan spent his first 20 months in the hospital before coming to the orphanage. It may also explain why Ivan's birth mother decided to carry him to term after two prior abortions only to give up her parental rights when he was a couple of days old.
The surgeon ordered some more x-rays including a side view of the heel in various positions to see how involved the heel cords were. The heel bone normally angles back and down towards the floor and adjusts depending on the angle of the foot. Ivan's heel bone will not move and angles back and up.
The solution is a heel cord lengthening surgery followed by a series of up to 3 months of casting and then braces for up to a year. Once all of that is over, Ivan will be able to participate in pretty much anything he chooses to. Surgery is scheduled for June 6. Basketball games, soccer clubs, here we come!!!
