family

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 thanRead More →

A Tale of Seven Braces – Part III   So here we are working with brace #7 still. It has been sent back twice for repairs… This last time, he actually snapped a knee hinge in half. It only took them about 3 weeks to get it back this time, versus the 6 on the first fix. He was able to wear his “boat anchor”, but it was modified to make it lighter. It is still heavier than the new one, but works not too bad. We were hoping the manufacturer would swap out the hinges for better ones, but not so. Oh well, afterRead More →

A Tale of Seven Braces – Part II We tried to fix up an older brace, but it just wouldn’t do the job, so he’s back to his boat anchor. Unfortunately, it is not holding his knee right, but hopefully he won’t have to use it for long. The fellow we deal with for Lowell’s braces, Andrew at Okaped, thinks there’s a lifetime warranty on the frame, so at least we can get that fixed while waiting for a new one. We are waiting to hear back from Lowell’s work, but getting a new one shouldn’t be an issue, it’s just getting the right one.Read More →

A Tale of Seven Braces At 6’4″, my husband, Lowell, is a pretty big man, and despite having a broken/fused spine, and a paralyzed leg with a brace, he is still very strong. Too strong for his own good sometimes, or should I say, too strong for his leg brace’s good? Lowell had a car accident in 1984, and after several operations, he was able to function as a “walking parapeligic. Despite being battered and bruised, his basic physiology did not change. He is an ox and grows muscle by just being alive. I’ve never seen anyone that could build muscle without really trying. IRead More →