Her Broken Brace

While I was sitting at work on Wednesday, Adrian sent me a surprising picture.

Adria's left leg brace a.k.a. Dynamic Ankle Foot Orthotic (DAFO) had broken! Right down along her heel there was a huge crack. We never saw it happen and don't know how it got there, but maybe it's a sign that she's playing hard at pre-school and putting them to the test.



Adria can get around the house barefoot okay, but she wouldn't be able to go to school or play outside without her braces. Daddy located an old pair of braces (that had a small tear in it) and put them on until we could get her broken brace fixed.

As far as I know, there is just one company in Delaware that provides pediatric orthotics, devices to help correct primarily feet and leg problems. We were able to get her into Lawall Prosthetics and Orthotics in Dover on Friday afternoon to see what had to be done.

The specialist who works there is the same man who fit her for her very first pair of braces when she was just nine months old. Super nice guy. But after a look at the damage to her brace, he did not think fixing it was an option. She got the braces back in September, and they came with a 6 month warranty...we are just beyond that.

But most health insurances, including ours, only cover one new pair of braces a year. That had us worried because these braces cost over $3,000 out of pocket and about $500 even with insurance. However, "making do" with the broken brace is not an option. The orthotist made a call to Cascade, the company that made her DAFOs, to see what options she had.

Great News! Cascade agreed to honor the warranty, even though we were outside the 6 month window, and provide Adria with an all new pair of braces. Praise the Lord!

Now to get fitted for her new braces. This is how it works:

1. The orthotist puts on two layers of a tube-sock like material.



2. While he prepares a wrap like plaster of paris, Daddy and Adria look at options for the color and design of her new braces. 

 

3. The orthotist sticks a rubber tube along her shin and foot and begins to wrap her lower leg and foot with the wet wrap to make a cast. He does this on both legs. 

 

4. Once the foot mold dries, he makes a few marks and uses a hook knife that looks like a good 'ole utility knife to cut along the yellow rubber tube.



5. He gently removes the cast from each leg so that the forms are in tact. He will send her foot molds directly to Cascade to create her new pair of braces.



 6. Adria officially decides on the Pink Hearts design for her new braces. She insists on having purple straps with them instead of the recommended pink straps. There was no arguing this point...



7. The orthotist makes note of a few more measurements and her color selection for the new order.



8. Now all that's needed is to call Adria's orthopedic doctor at AI DuPont Hospital for Children and get a new prescription for the braces. Hopefully, it won't take much more than a week for the new pair to come in.

After all the excitement of the brace fitting, we headed to the Verizon store for Mommy to upgrade her iPhone for the first time in over two years. To reward the girls for their patience that afternoon, we headed to Chick-fil-A for dinner and fun in the restaurant's playplace. They loved it, but it was basically impossible to get little sister Johanna to sit and eat with the fun right there!

And before going home, we had to stop at Wal-Mart for our weekly contribution. Of course by then Adria was worn out and unable to walk much, so we contained them both in the shopping cart. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart doesn't have the dual-seat racecar style cart that Food Lion and Lowes have. Just one of the reasons that Wal-mart is not my preferred shopping venue, but you do what you gotta do in Delaware!

Johanna and Adria crammed in the Wal-mart shopping cart after a busy afternoon