Text Box: 2 CLUB FEET  
My life after being born with severe CLUB FEET - A very crippling condition without necessary corrective treatment.  In 1937 this treatment would not have been available in a lot of cases, so I was indeed fortunate.  I am now 80 years 2018.
Text Box: I want to leave this information for future generations of my family.  I was born in 1937 with 2 club feet and after extensive manipulative treatment using plaster and splints then leg irons, treatments lasted  until 5 years of age  as there were corrections needed to knee and hips as well as the feet and ankle. Everything was non-surgical.  Later I was able to go on to lead a very satisfying life, being able to participate in  sport and Classical, Tap and Jazz dancing, except I wasn’t able to do Classical Ballet in Toe Shoes. Apart from the Toe Shoe incident I had no problems. And I was also never really able to wear high heels.

I am eternally thankful to the Professionals at what was the  Women’s/Children’s Hospital in Melbourne Victoria who managed the treatment of my condition.
   
I now suffer severe pain from the hips down and particularly in the ankles and across the arch of the feet, need to sit in shower and use a walker.  So I must ask have I outworn a lot of the corrective work and are my feet returning gradually to a defective position, medical science at the time would not have expected me to live this long.   X-rays have shown multiple healed fractures caused by the earlier procedure with the manipulation and casting to re-align the feet.  Perhaps this would be interesting to a specialist if I could make contact.   The bottom of my feet are numb ?????.  

Fortunately we have had no further CLUB FEET in the DNA family and I have 8 Great Grand-children and another due in February.    Veronica Maude BATES nee DIBBLE. 2018.  The photos of the Club Feet from the Internet.  No photos of my own corrections.  
Similar to these photos.
Text Box: Stretching and casting (Ponseti method)  
This is a similar method to what was used in  my own treatment.
This is the most common treatment for clubfoot. Your doctor will:
Move your baby's foot into a correct position and then place it in a cast to hold it there
Reposition and recast your baby's foot once or twice a week for several months
[may] Perform a minor surgical procedure to lengthen the Achilles tendon (percutaneous Achilles tenotomy) toward the end of this process
After the shape of your baby's foot is realigned, you'll need to maintain it by doing one or more of the following:
Doing stretching exercises with your baby
Putting your child in special shoes and braces
Making sure your child wears the shoes and braces as long as needed — usually full time for three months, and then at night for up to three years  -  my treatment took 5 years to achieve the desired result.
For this method to be successful, you'll need to apply the braces according to your doctor's directions so that the foot doesn't return to its original position. The main reason this procedure sometimes doesn't work is because the braces are not used constantly by the family.  I know my parents were very strict and there was no NOT USING the bracing etc.
Text Box: Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) Definition of Congenital stationary night blindness
	An inherited eye disorder that is not progressive (stationary) and principally affects the rod photoreceptors in the retina, impairing night vision. There may also be moderate to high myopia (short sightedness). Under good lighting conditions, there is usually no visual deficit. The disorder is diagnosed by electroretinogram (ERG). 
	There are several different types of the disorder which are inherited in an autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X-linked recessive manner. The X-linked type affects almost exclusively males and accounts for the predominance of males with congenital stationary night blindness. Children with the disorder may have a fear of the dark.  Now in my 80th year I have learned to live with this condition. CSNB was diagnosed 10 years ago at the Lions Institute Perth but for most of my life I have fallen down stairs, stepped and fallen in sunken rooms and cannot see curbings etc. As a child I was called clumsy and stupid but nobody knew why I kept repeatedly falling down the staircase at our home where I grew up.  I could never judge the depth of a step. I have finally found out the problem, of course I have not been able to drive after sunset and before good light.  In Australia it seems rare but how many people just go un–diagnosed.  Nobody seemed to be able to tell me why I could not see at night?? Scary.
	
Fuchs' (fooks) Corneal Dystrophy 	
I now have a double eye wammy and need the support of VISABILITY for specialized equipment.
Fuchs' (Fooks) dystrophy affects the cornea — the clear front window of your eye. This disorder causes swelling in the cornea that can lead to glare, cloudy vision and eye discomfort.
Fuchs' dystrophy usually affects both eyes and can cause your vision to gradually worsen over many years. But most people with Fuchs' dystrophy have a mild type and don't notice much change in their eyesight.
Some medications and self-care steps may help relieve your Fuchs' dystrophy signs and symptoms. But when the disorder is advanced and you've lost vision, the only way to restore vision is with cornea transplant surgery.
	I mentioned that I am now in my 80th year and I managed everything and did the things I needed to do.  I worked in an office for 25 years. Raised 3 children, and enjoy 7 Grand-children and 2 Great Grand-children and husband and I have passed our 60th year of marriage.  
	So really I have had a great life.  I have known that I was different to others but I coped and just got on with my life and had a great husband to keep watch over me as I stumbled.  Although, it really is easier if you know WHY you seem different.  Now I know.
Text Box:  Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB)   PLUS   Fuchs' (fooks) corneal dystrophy