Kaleb Patrick Hinkle was born on January 17th, 2003 in Miamisburg, Ohio. Kaleb was diagnosed with Amniotic Band Syndrome when he was three days old. Kaleb has several defects. Both of Kaleb’s feet are severely clubbed, he is missing his pointer and middle finger on the right hand, his ring finger is very constricted on his right hand as well. His left hand is also affected. He has a very small thumb that has only one joint and his ring and pinky fingers were fused together by the bones. Also, all of his toes on his left foot are fused and all, but one, are fused on the right foot. He has no facial deformities, but he has very large scars on the back of his head from bands attaching.
At 24 weeks of pregnancy, I was suffering from severe pain to the abdomen so my doctor referred me to have 3D ultrasounds. My first visit I was told that my baby had severe clubbed feet and that I would need to come back every two weeks until birth. I had approximately 10 ultrasounds with him and no Amniotic Bands were ever seen.
I was induced at 37 weeks because of the severe pains. When Kaleb was born I was so excited, but so tired that I really didn’t understand. I could hear everyone talking about him and they wouldn’t give him to me. I later found out this was because he was bleeding profusely from his head. Eight hours went by before I finally got to really see him and when I did, I was all alone in the room. All I knew was that his feet were clubbed, but I hadn’t seen them yet. I went to take the blanket off and I immediately started crying. I had no idea what I was looking at. No one in the hospital knew what we were looking at. It took three days for a specialist to get there and diagnose him. At that time I was very confused and didn’t know what ABS was or what I did to cause it. This website is one that I was given by the doctor for information. I don’t know about other people, but I believe there really isn’t enough information out there available to us.
Kaleb is now 4 1/2 yrs. old and has had four surgeries to include all of his extremities. In September, he will be undergoing his fifth surgery. We have basically exhausted all options at this point because of a very stubborn clubbed foot. The growth of his feet has been stunted due to all of the procedures, so we will be trying some experimental things to correct these issues.
I would not trade him for anything in the world, he is a very huge momma’s boy and I really don’t know what any of us would do without him. He has been a blessing to my whole family causing everyone to be thankful and be closer together. Most importantly he has taught me to be patient and be able to handle anything. This is a very good thing because through all of this I have recovered from cancer and we have two younger boys who have medical conditions of their own. If it weren’t for Kaleb being born the way he was, I don’t know what kind of mother I would be.
UPDATE
Kaleb had another surgery ( #5) on 6/26/07. He is doing well. It’ll be another 12 weeks before we can actually see the new results, but these pictures were taken in the operating room before casting. This looks much better than before and we are very optimistic and excited to see the final results. The Doctor explained that he will have to have more operations, but hopefully only minor issues. I will keep the site updated to be informative for other parents.
Well, unfortunately, Kaleb’s 5th surgery was not successful. He has since had three more due to complications. It has been four months since his 8th surgery and he really isn’t doing any better. He will be starting school in the fall and we are hoping that things will get better. We have found that his foot growth is stunted due to the operations, but are unsure whether it is permenant. He will be having more operations within the next year. As always, I will keep the site updated.
