A Tale of Seven Braces – Part IV

Here we go again. Three weeks to the day Lowell got the brace back, a rivet broke in the ankle pivot point on the foot orthosis. This orthosis is a huge walking help for him as he is not able to raise his toes, and this orthosis keeps his toes slightly elevated so he doesn’t catch his toes and trip as he walks.

The ridiculous part of this, is that when he last sent the brace in with the snapped knee hinge, they were also supposed to replace the rivets as they were loose. However, rather than drill them out and put new ones in, they just mashed them a bit. Not a good idea period, but especially when the rivets are only made out of copper! They should be stainless steel. (Head banging on wall…)

So, I dropped it off yesterday to the brace lady in town (who is really choked at the manufacturer) and she will most likely replace the rivets so Lowell can get his brace back ASAP.

Updated Sept. 20, 2021

 We had quite a few more issues with the foot orthosis, and every new brace takes about six months to refine, but I’m thankful we’ve finally been able to find a  brace style that works for him, holds his knee correctly, enables him to walk and accomplish what he needs to do, and that he doesn’t break in a day! LOL 

Published July 3, 2009 | By Angela Trenholm