Hello everyone and thank you so much for visiting our page!
We’ve always heard about the amazing work that SickKids has provided children, and when our family was able to experience this first-hand, we were committed to giving back to them. We knew we wanted to bring Clubfoot awareness to our community and to start a campaign for the SickKids Foundation to honour Autumn’s journey.
We have committed to raising $25K over the next 5 years (the time of Autumn’s boots and bar journey).
All funds raised will go towards the Orthopaedics Division at SickKids. Please visit this page on updates we receive from SickKids on what is done with the donations.
Donors will receive a tax receipt for their donation via e-mail.
Please see Autumn’s journey below:
We are Dmitri and Melissa Lee and we have two children - our son (Weston) and our club foot cutie, Autumn.
We found out through our anatomy scan that Autumn would likely be born with club foot, which is a foot abnormality where one or both feet can be twisted at birth. At this time, it was diagnosed that Autumn would be born with unilateral clubfoot (only one of the two feet).
We were immediately referred to a specialist hospital prior to Autumn’s birth, which provided us with an incredible amount of information. This included the history of club feet, possible links to neurology and more, as well as treatment. However, we were also presented with the option of pregnancy termination - an option we quickly decided not to take. Their ultrasounds also confirmed that Autumn would be born with bilateral clubfoot (both her feet). A special shout out to our sister-in law who came all the way from Ottawa to support us through this appointment.
We were then referred to SickKids Hospital, where Autumn’s journey continued. On March 10th (2020), we had the pleasure of meeting with Barbra Harvey and Dr. Bouchard, in the clubfoot clinic. They walked us through the Ponseti Method, a popular technique used to correct clubfoot. They were knowledgeable, patient, kind, and made us feel comfortable about the process. We left that meeting with all of our questions answered and ready to tackle this experience with our daughter.
Autumn Charlotte Nicole Lee came into this world on April 2nd (2020) at 4:01pm weighing 6lb 11oz.
Since Autumn was born at the height of COVID we were worried about her treatment being delayed. Fortunately, a few days after her birth we received a call that her treatment would begin within weeks.
Due to COVID, driving into Toronto for our appointments ended up being less of a headache than we initially imagined. The roads were clear, parking wasn’t an issue, and due to hospital protocols, Melissa was taken inside for her appointments immediately. Unfortunately, hospital protocols also meant that only one parent could enter the hospital. Melissa would attend the appointments while Dmitri and Weston went on walks. However, they allowed Melissa to take pictures of the casting process and send them to Dmitri. We are so grateful to SickKids for their diligence, support, and coaching – including, but not limited to, responding to our emails quickly when we were worried.
During this entire process, we couldn’t help but think about other areas of concern. We ruled out all footed sleepers for bedtime, we wondered if she would hit her milestones (crawling, standing, walking), and even thought about how comfortable she would be while sleeping.
Autumn has hit her milestones without delay – she began crawling at 6 months, began lifting herself to stand at 7 months, and currently (1 years old) walking inconsistently with a toy walker. She also sleeps soundly in her boots and bar (she’s a tummy sleeper).
At 4 weeks old (April 23rd) Autumn had her first appointment at SickKids in order to receive her first cast. This appointment went well, as Autumn slept through the entire casting process. We knew Autumn would need several casts because not only do the casts need to match her growth, but each cast adjusts to the progress her feet are making.
On April 30th, Melissa was taught how to take off the casts (in case of any emergency) and a step needed before each appointment, and Autumn received her second set of casts. We were told several times that Autumn’s feet were a “textbook case”. We received news that she may not require more than the 4 casts – this was good news.
On May 5th, Autumn received her third cast.
On May 12th, Autumn received her fourth cast
On May 21st, we knew Autumn would require a small surgery, which included receiving a small incision made into her achilles tendon. This allows her tendon to loosen and reform to the new position of her feet. However, we hit our first scare when we noticed (and tracked) heavy bleeding after the surgery showing through her fifth and final cast. Dr. Bouchard called us from her home to calm us down and assure us that this was normal. Dr. Bouchard’s bedside manner was outstanding. A colleague of hers asked us to send in pictures of the bleed and within an hour, we received an update that coming back in immediately was unnecessary, but a recasting should be done.
On May 26th, we took Autumn in for her recast.
On June 10th, after 2 months and 5 different casts, Autumn transitioned into her “boots and bar” stage, which placed her feet in a corrective position for 23hrs a day. This also meant being able to give her a proper bath for the first time during that 1-hr that they could remain off.
On June 16th, we had a follow up appointment just to ensure that the boots were being put on correctly.
And finally, on September 2nd, Autumn transitioned into the night time boots and bar stage, which meant that she only had to wear them while she slept at night (for a minimum of 12hrs). This means we are into our final stage of this process because Autumn will have to wear the boots and bar at night until she is 6 years old. We continue to have check ins every 6 months with SickKids to ensure Autumn is on the right track, and to check in for any relapses.
We owe a great debt of thanks to Barbra Harvey and Dr. Bouchard for their work.
We consider this page and eventual donation as our opportunity to give back.
We thank you for any donations you are able to make and we appreciate you even just taking the time to read about Autumn’s journey.