Brenda Eiland's Story
I was born in rural Neshoba County, Mississippi, in 1948. Growing up, the subject of my having had club feet would be mentioned on rare occasions, but I thought I was just being teased.
My sister is ten years older than I am. Two weeks ago, she drove three hours to visit, bringing her daughter for a massage/neuromuscular therapy session with me.
After the session, my sister told her daughter the story about my club feet, not realizing that I had never heard the real story.
My sister said that my mother learned how to massage and otherwise manipulate my feet until my feet finally acquired a somewhat normal appearance.
Intrigued by this story, I later checked some websites and found one describing the Ponseti method of manipulation which is quite interesting. I have always had a great deal of trouble with my feet and eventually had tendon transfer surgery of the right tibialis posterior muscle.
I developed, also, muscle "stringiness" and pain-to-be-managed throughout the body, plus a rare neurological disorder called palatal myoclonus.
All this is a nuisance to be sure; however, I am very, very grateful to the unidentified Choctaw Indian(s) and my intelligent, perservering mother, because I can get around pretty well.
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