Dreams Made True: New Wonders for Walking

Daleney, 12, has suffered from cerebral palsy since she was born. Daleney has always been faced with obstacles and limitations but she has constantly strived to make improvements in her own way. At first doctors didn’t think Delaney would ever be able to walk, but with the help of the Bioness L300 device, Delaney is now walking with forearm crutches instead of a walker, giving her confidence and allowing her to be more independent. We had the pleasure of speaking with Daleney’s Mother, Dayna Teske, and she shared with us her journey of how she first learned of the Bioness L300, how she was able to help her daughter’s mobility and how she was able to make dreams come true.

While watching Ellen…

Sometimes, when you least expect it, sparks of inspiration can occur. One day, when Dayna was home on leave from work, she was watching the Ellen DeGeneres show and saw an interview with Abbey Curran. Abbey was Miss Iowa USA, 2008, and just happens to be the first disabled participant to compete in the Miss USA Pageant. Abbey created the Miss You Can Do It Pageant. Its message is that “you’re okay and you’re beautiful”. So Dayna taped the show and when Daleney came home from school Dayna had her watch the show. She asked Daleney if she would like to participate because they were accepting entries. She said yes and they attended the July 2008 pageant in Kewanee, Illinois. While attending the pageant, there was another young lady, about a year older than Daleney, who was wearing the Bioness cuffs. They became very curious and wondered if this might be something that could help Daleney. So, they asked lots of questions, spoke with the young girl’s parents, took some pictures and then went home and talked with their doctors. The research took about one year and in 2009, when Daleney was 8 years old, she went to a rehab hospital that gave the family a trial.

The Bioness cuffs were not covered by insurance at the time Daleney started using them, and were considered “experimental”. However, use of a Bioness system in the clinic setting can be billed by your healthcare professional and often reimbursed if it is medically necessary (while we can’t guarantee insurance reimbursement when a Bioness system is purchased for home use, your health insurance plan may cover some or all of the cost of a Bioness system and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis). The cost for the Bioness system is not cheap. Dayna explained that they were fortunate that a new group in Iowa called Iowa Able Foundation had been established to offer an alternative financial solution by providing low interest loans, with flexible terms, to help individuals increase their independence at home, at work, and in the community. The statewide, nonprofit program will loan funds for any item, piece of equipment or product that is used to improve an individual’s quality of life (please check in your state to see if a program like this exists).

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