Today my physiotherapist’s contact came in to try a DonJoy X-Act Rom Knee Brace fitting on me to help provide me with walking support towards my recovery from Guillain Barre Syndrome and help me towards walking. Our thought is that this type of knee brace will help prevent my knee from buckling. Usually every session walking between the parallel bars my knee buckles two times. Yesterday it didn’t buckle once. Hoping this knee brace will give me the extra support and extra level of protection to get me to my next stage of walking. My physiotherapist wants me in the SteadyMate Walker but needs my knee a bit stronger or some level of protection for safety reasons to prevent a possible fall. Although I can walk the whole session I know I’m not confident my knees won’t buckle on me without having a some type of knee brace on.
With this type of DonJoy knee brace it allows both extension and flexion. My knee needs to be able to move still to further strengthen my knee. There are other types of knee braces out there but they lock once you stand up. You would technically be walking with a straight leg with no bend. This is not what we want. My knee still needs to be able to bend to further develop strength.
These knee braces aren’t cheap. This DonJoy X-Act Rom Knee Brace is about $300. With the amount of walking I’ll be doing, this might not be the right one as it won’t last the wear and tear of the extent of the physio I’ll be doing. My physiotherapist and the DonJoy rep were talking about a custom one being done. These are however expensive at about $1,700. She wanted to try the low end one such as this one as she knows I won’t be in that knee brace too long. This is just the next step to get me to walking outside the parallel bars.
The thing is the custom ones lock once you stand. They are strong but you can’t control the setting for flexion and extension like the one above. They either lock you in a straight leg position once your standing or unlock to be able to bend and sit back down. There is no in between. The custom ones are stronger too and built to last. I mentioned to the rep if perhaps they can customize it further with the dial control added to be able to set for flexion and extension of the knee. I’m not sure if it can be done but that’s what I kind of need. The custom ones are designed more for other types of injuries and not really for Guillain Barre Syndrome patients.
The DonJoy representative is going to come up with a few options for me and quotes. My physiotherapist is going to discuss this further with him to come up with the best knee brace for my current condition. I told them both, come up with the best one possible for me not with cost on the first priority. I said come up with the best one that gives me the best chance at success in recovery. Sometimes for health you can’t make a decision based on something that might cost you a few hundred dollars less. Even though financially that’s a lot given the current situation I’m in but if that’s going to mean the difference between walking or not I’ll gladly pay the extra money. Not sure how but hopefully things work out here soon with CPP Disability and I’ll be getting some income soon.
Now I have to wait till Monday to see what he comes up with. Hoping a knee brace can be provided pretty quick. As I’m anxious to get more walking steps in to help further progress in my recovery from GBS. Now I wait.
I wanted to get a video of me walking wearing these DonJoy X-Act Rom Knee Braces but I forgot. We were all too concentrated on talking about the ideal one for me. I’ll get one next time. It felt okay walking with them, little different, extra weight but it stabilizes you knee. Looking forward to what they come up with for me.
