[MelodyL]

Hi all. Just wanted to update you on Alan's feet woes.

The guy from the Orthotics company came to our house and saw Alan's foot .

Well the guy could not have been nicer. He took all kinds of photos and I showed him videos that I had taken of Alan's cellulitis of his foot. I said to him: "Well, I know you are going to replace the right orthotic but I think it's only right that you give him the left foot too" I mean, it would be the right thing to do"

He said "Absolutely, We are doing both feet today."

So Alan will get a brand new pair of orthotics. And they will do it right this time And the guy is bringing it to the lab today, will oversee how it's done and they will mail it to us by UPS by next Tuesday. Maybe sooner. That's not bad at all.

Every other time we ordered orthotics it took at least 3 weeks to get them.

And is foot is basically healed just fine. The guy said "I noticed that this guy does not have diabetes because his foot healed beautifully, and the diabetics I know, well they don't heal like this"

I said 'yeah, we have never really gotten found out why he has neuropathy"

The guy said "90% of the orthotics we make are for diabetics"

wow.

[Dr. Smith]

Originally Posted by MelodyL

The guy said "90% of the orthotics we make are for diabetics"

wow.

That may be insurance related. When I was looking into medical shoes this past winter, I was told that insurance only covered them for diabetics; might be a similar situation.

Doc

[MelodyL]

Originally Posted by Dr. Smith

That may be insurance related. When I was looking into medical shoes this past winter, I was told that insurance only covered them for diabetics; might be a similar situation.

Doc

Hi Doc.

Yeah, I know, Alan's insurance will NOT pay for anything related to his neuropathy because he is not a diabetic.

We are hoping that some day this all changes.

It most certainly is not fair.

[jetbrujah]

Dear all

My daughter is 6 and has Global Developmental Delay Symptoms and low tone. she needs SMO"s and the insurance will only pay 1/2 then if she need them in three to six months we must pay the full amount. I wanted to know if any of you know a second insurance for kids like ours that have disability that will cove all that my daughter needs. We are on one income and even though the SMO'S are expensive she really need them.

Thank you for your help

Kabe

[Geraldine]

Originally Posted by MelodyL

Hi all. Just wanted to update you on Alan's feet woes.

The guy from the Orthotics company came to our house and saw Alan's foot .

Well the guy could not have been nicer. He took all kinds of photos and I showed him videos that I had taken of Alan's cellulitis of his foot. I said to him: "Well, I know you are going to replace the right orthotic but I think it's only right that you give him the left foot too" I mean, it would be the right thing to do"

He said "Absolutely, We are doing both feet today."

So Alan will get a brand new pair of orthotics. And they will do it right this time And the guy is bringing it to the lab today, will oversee how it's done and they will mail it to us by UPS by next Tuesday. Maybe sooner. That's not bad at all.

Every other time we ordered orthotics it took at least 3 weeks to get them.

And is foot is basically healed just fine. The guy said "I noticed that this guy does not have diabetes because his foot healed beautifully, and the diabetics I know, well they don't heal like this"

I said 'yeah, we have never really gotten found out why he has neuropathy"

The guy said "90% of the orthotics we make are for diabetics"

wow.

What was wrong with his orthotics? How were they wrong? Just curious, I got orthotics 2 months ago, and after the first week I asked why my left foot just felt WRONG. They said it would take a while to get used to. Two months later, I am not used to it. My left foot still has a huge lump under the arch. It never feels good. The right foot however feels fine. And my right foot has always been the worst one. I asked them if I could get rescanned, and the company is allowing me to get rescanned. When I was scanned, I couldn't even stand up straight, so I couldn't stand right, I don't know how they would have been able to scan it right. ?? I hope his new orthotics are a whole lot better!

[MelodyL]

Originally Posted by Geraldine

What was wrong with his orthotics? How were they wrong? Just curious, I got orthotics 2 months ago, and after the first week I asked why my left foot just felt WRONG. They said it would take a while to get used to. Two months later, I am not used to it. My left foot still has a huge lump under the arch. It never feels good. The right foot however feels fine. And my right foot has always been the worst one. I asked them if I could get rescanned, and the company is allowing me to get rescanned. When I was scanned, I couldn't even stand up straight, so I couldn't stand right, I don't know how they would have been able to scan it right. ?? I hope his new orthotics are a whole lot better!

This is exactly what happened with his orthotics (the ones that went wrong).

He had been fitted and when they arrived, he put them in his shoe and wore them. After a week, he had a fever and I said "why do you have a fever"? The white sock he wears had blood on it. I took off his sock and oh my god, his foot ulcer was all infected and I immediately took him to his podiatrist who treated him and put him on antibiotics. I said "he just got new orthotics". Well, the look on his face. The person who actually made the orthotics did NOT follow the instructions on the prescription. There was supposed to be a depression in the orthotic where Alan's foot ulcer would free float so it would heal. What actually happened was that the orthotics was built up in a place where it rubbed the ulcer, it got worse, it caused an infection and Alan needed antibiotics. Alan is not a diabetic so he heals perfectly fine. We contacted the Orthotic company and the rest is history.

But NOW, we are getting a completely new shoe. It's called a Darko wound healing oft loading shoe. We attended a neuropathy support group meeting last month and one of the members had these shoes on. I asked her to pass them around and they were very impressive. Look up Darko wound healing oft loading shoe (on google) and you'll see what I mean.

The shoe has Velcro closures, it's a rocker shoe, it has 4 insoles (so the doctor can pull out the place that needs to be adjusted for the ulcer). We showed the doctor yesterday ( brought a print out of the actual shoe) and he said "great, go for it".

So in price comparison, over the years, Alan's shoes would cost about $800 and the orthotics almost $400 (or some such nonsensical over-priced cost).

These Darko shoes cost $129.00 and I really think they will do a better job.

Will update when we get them.

Melody