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
[1] 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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A new way of walking…
The next logical question was “how long did it take for Daleney to get used to them and what happened next”? Dayna explained that when she first started wearing the cuff, she started wearing it over the summer for a couple of hours a day to get used to it, because it was working (stimulating) her muscles in a different way. By the time school started in August, she was able to wear it for 8 hours a day. Dayna said, “for example, if you are tapping your toe, you can feel it is stimulating the muscles in the front of your leg as well as in the back of your leg in your calf. It is stimulating two points in your leg. These are not muscles she could activate on her own prior to 
[3]wearing the Bioness”. Prior to the cuff, Daleney’s ankle was in a solid AFO and she never had any range of motion in her ankle. When she walked it was more like a march. According to one of Daleney’s therapists, Chris Staub, DPT,CGFI,MBA, and Owner of Active Performance Physical Therapy, “the Bioness L300 allows her foot to go through range of motion. AFO is basically a giant hunk of plastic between her foot and the ground. It does not allow very much adaptive movement. So, if she goes on anything other than a straight level surface, the AFO does not really allow for any changes in movement”. The first time Delaney put the cuff on in Lincoln, Nebraska, she was tapping her toe and moving her foot. This was something she had never done before in her life. Dayna was amazed and said “look at your foot moving up and down and your toe moving”. When the technician said to Dayna, “I turned it off a few minutes ago”, Dayna realized that Daleney had made that connection in her brain and now she is doing it! That was the very first time Delaney had put on the Bioness cuff. The family finds that the more she wears it the more her muscles improve. Dayna explained that the cuff needs to be programed and adjusted by a trained Bioness technician every four to six weeks and she still requires Botox injections every six months. Delaney is able to adjust the device up “a couple degrees” to help her lift her ankle or, if the shock feels too strong, she can also adjust it down slightly to meet her needs. They loved the Pediatric size cuff and feel it has made a huge difference because it fits her properly and helps to stimulate the appropriate muscles. This has also given Daleney more self-confidence because she is able to do more and to walk around less restricted. She is now 12, very intelligent, and able to “talk the terminology” when it comes to adjusting the cuff….she knows it inside and out.
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New dreams coming true
David and Dayna Teske, after being inspired by their daughter, Daleney, founded a non-profit organization called Dreams Made True using her initials (DMT) in the name. Dreams Made True is dedicated to enhancing the lives of girls with special needs, ages 5-25, and providing their families the opportunity to connect with, and learn from, each other. These young ladies will have the chance to unite and showcase their unique abilities through the beauty pageant format. In fact, the fourth annual Dreams Made True Pageant is July 19-20, 2013, proving that you never know where the road might lead you.
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