Year Three: Going from Strength to Strength

It is early 2025, Lula is now three and a half years old, and I’m delighted to say that she is doing brilliantly so far. It is crazy to think that she is over halfway through her five year treatment journey. I remember being told by others that the five years would go by so quickly with the Talipes treatment, and I didn’t believe it at the time as the first year was so tough. We have a good rhythm now and Lula is just in the habit of wearing her Boots & Bar when she goes to bed at night, same as her pyjamas. I’m aware not every journey is as fortunate as this, and a lot of this is down to Lula’s own easy-going nature… and I am also very aware that things can change at any moment – whether attitude or treatment-wise.

An illustration of Lula in her Boots & Bar with her teddy who also wears his Boots & Bar too

Looking back over the last year or so since I wrote the Year Two blog in October 2023, the main changes have been that Lula is now toilet trained (which thankfully hasn’t impacted the Boots & Bar wear, as I was worried about that last year); herself and her older sister are now more ‘aware’ of the Boots & Bar and ask about it sometimes (including trying to put the Boots & Bar on their teddies); she no longer needs to use a pringle as a pressure reliever; and she has started pre-school, ballet classes, and loves going swimming as well. Some other aspects have remained the same, for example she still gets ‘mystery marks’ on her feet; we still struggle with the blanket at night (getting caught on the Boots & Bar) no matter what we try; she still wakes up early in the morning due to the discomfort/inability to comfortably reposition herself to go back to sleep; and generally she still doesn’t like her feet being touched (e.g. getting her nails cut or the consultant checking her feet etc.). We have also noticed that Lula seems to have the shape of the Boots & Bar even when she is not wearing them, for example if she is sitting on the ground, she sits like she is wearing the Boots & Bar. Her feet are also still a bit smaller and wider than usual, and she still wears a wide fit shoe. Lula still meets her consultant approximately every six months, gets a new set of bigger Boots, and the Bar lengthened. And lastly, I am still glued to the Clubfoot and Talipes UK Facebook group. I just find the information and knowledge sharing on that group enormously helpful (and, at times, reassuring).

In my last blog in 2023, I posted a picture of Lula with her teddy bear who also wears Boots & Bar. This was picked up by a journalist, and Lula has had a ‘mention’ in a few places since (Mirror newspaper, Take a Break magazine, and Yours magazine). The articles focused on the charitable enterprise which makes specialised teddies to support children with different conditions, and it was lovely to see the difference those teddies make for other kids, but also so lovely to see a representation of Talipes/Clubfoot too to raise a tiny bit of awareness.

Lula got a mention in a magazine article in 2024, along with a photo of her wearing her Boots & Bar.

This then led to me thinking that it would be great to have a book to read to Lula at night, alongside her teddy, whereby she could realise (especially now that she is getting older and probably understanding that others don’t have to wear Boots & Bar) that all this treatment she is enduring will make her stronger, more resilient, and able to reach for the stars. So I wrote a very short book, called “I’ll go Far, I’m a Super Star” (available on Amazon), aimed at young kids/toddlers with Talipes, which hopefully brings a bit of optimism, normalisation, and fun to the whole experience.

This is the front cover of the little book I wrote for Lula about her Talipes journey.

I can’t believe I am saying this but I will write the last blog in 18 months’ time (hopefully), when Lula is due to complete her Talipes treatment. Here’s hoping that all will stay on the same trajectory and she will continue to progress well – fingers crossed.

Here’s wishing all the very best to everyone else on their Talipes/Clubfoot journey.

Dervla