Welcome to the Website of

Dr. Michael Zapf, DPM, MPH, FACFAS

 Thank you for visiting my website. I have been placing information and articles on this site for many years and have received millions of  hits during that time (and not that many of them were mine). I have designed it for people who like to read about their foot and ankle problems. Since I started the web site, I have added two associates to my practice, Dr. Darren Payne and Dr. Stephen Benson.  Since my site is filled with just my thoughts and opinions they are not, necessarily, shared by my colleagues. To see our less controversial (and less windy) practice web site, I offer you: www.ConejoFeet.com, the practice site for The Agoura Los Robles Podiatry Centers (ALRPC). The ALRPC practice site has a lot of material about our office, many of our policies and the registration forms to be filled out before your visit. I suggest all prospective patients visit www.ConejoFeet.com.

 I made the web site to give my patients the extra depth information that I don’t always have time to cover in the office visit. Visitors who are not my patients are welcome to browse the information found here. My younger colleagues are both under 50 and they, like many their age, do not favor in depth reading. They prefer their information presented to them in a few short, crisp bullet points. I, being of the, ahem, older generation, like to read about my ailments in greater depth. Here, I present the greater depth. If you ask a question about heel pain or bunions that I have not answered in my two monographs, I will quickly add it so that it is as complete as I can make it. If you agree with this philosophy, welcome to my page. If you correspond with me please let me know if you like the in depth reporting.

 Remember, this site is in no way intended to tell you how your own ailment or problem should be treated, only the approach I use when confronted with certain situations. Your problem may well be different from what you think it is and should always be evaluated by the appropriate professional, whether podiatrist, orthopedist or other authority. Please understand that I, nor anyone else, can offer you a proper diagnosis or treatment plan without seeing and feeling the problem at hand (foot?).  Happy reading.

 Sincerely, Michael Zapf, DPM, MPH, FACFAS, FACFAOM

 P.S. All the information in this web site is © by me and it is mine alone. No picture or any of the articles cannot be used by anyone without permission from me, personally.

01/08/2012

To Order Foot Supplies --> <-- click

ACORN Article – Operation Footprint – Podiatric Miracles

By: Michael Zapf, D.P.M.

March 2003

The sine qua non of podiatric surgery is arguably the correction of a clubfoot on a 6 month old baby. You must excuse me, however, if my chest swells with pride as a group of my colleagues and I went to Honduras last month and did just that -- more than two dozen times. Not all were babies. Several were elementary school age children and a couple young adults were recipients of our brigade’s efforts.

The whole project started with the humanitarian efforts of local activist, Sandy Schultz. She joined the Peace Corps after retirement and spent two years in Honduras. Since that time she lives for 5 months in Honduras helping her people. The other 7 months are spent in Newbury Park raising the money for her time in Honduras. She spends her time in this poor Central American country caring for the poorest of the poor. She brings them food and clothing and arranges for medical help. She has a stable of people who are in need of correction of one or two club feet. She came to my Rotary Club with a request for help for her "club feet people." I put her in touch with a group of podiatrists who have been traveling to Mexico for 26 years performing club foot repairs and the rest, as they say, is history.

A club foot occurs in one in every 1000 births. In a community like ours these babies are quickly identified and a process of stretching and casting is started in the first month of life. This procedure is very simple and results in a correction nearly every time. Without manipulation and casting in early life, the foot will be rapidly become quite rigid and only surgery can straighten it. Even with manipulation and casting some children’s feet still will not straighten and they also need surgery.

In Honduras, like many underdeveloped countries, there is no system in place to identify these children at birth. When they are identified later in life, by Sandy or others, there is no hope without surgery. Getting surgery for these children is very difficult. When we went to the 400 bed hospital we met their orthopedic surgeon. He is quite knowledgeable about club foot correction but he is completely hamstrung. The hospital has no supplies or equipment to help the children. Enter the Baja Project for Crippled Children.

Twenty six years ago a group of (then young) volunteer podiatrists answered a call for help in Mexicali, Mexico. Since then the "Baja Group" has traveled to Mexico every Saturday to identify and treat children in Mexico who have orthopedic abnormalities. Once a month, for 26 years, they have performed the complex and intricate club foot procedures these children need to walk. They are now treating the children of former patients.

Five years ago the Baja Group took the program on the road. Annually they packed up $100,000 worth of equipment and took it to El Salvador. When this year’s trip was scuttled by inhospitable conditions in El Salvador, they agreed to come to the aid of Sandy’s Children in neighboring Honduras.

I was privileged to be with the group during the first week of March. Working from sunrise to sundown they performed surgery after surgery on children who traveled from all corners of Honduras. These children, Anna Marie, Javier, Junior (two Junior’s actually) and others now have new feet. In a few months they will get their casts off and, with a little practice, will walk to school when they are old enough.

Each of these surgeries in the States could easily cost $15,000 to $20,000. We did all of our surgeries for $21,000, mostly for air fares and $10,000 worth of supplies we left with the hospital for post-operative care. (Of course all our doctors donated their time.) The Rotary Club of Agoura Hills/Oak Park has raised a good portion of this money and my club, Westlake Sunrise, is trying to raise the rest. We are raffling a new $35,000 Lexus at $100 a ticket. The car is on display at The Oaks Shopping Center. The raffle is on April 27, so you still have time if you want to buy a ticket.

Some of the surgeries were very complex and will need a second surgery to "fine tune" the correction. Also there are many more we did not have the time to correct. On the last day of surgeries there were 25 new children with club feet waiting at the operating room door. It broke all our hearts to say next time. We hope to go back next October, but that depends on our success in raising funds to first pay for this trip.

To see photographs of these beautiful children, please see the Operation Footprint portion of my website, www.conejofeet.com. For information on the Lexus raffle please see http://www.rotaryevents.com/lexusRaffle.htm .

##

Dr. Michael Zapf is a podiatrist in private practice in Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks. For more information call his office at (818) 707-3668 or (805) 497-6979.

Dear Lee,

I would be happy to get high resolution images (these or any from the web site) if you can/would run them:

Send mail to (zfootdoc at doctor dot com) with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2000 Michael A. Zapf, D.P.M., F.A.C.F.A.S., F.A.C.F.AOA.M.
Last modified: January 08, 2012