Brett's Story

Brett is a 16-year-old boy, and one of triplets. Brett and his brothers were born premature at 34 weeks. After a stay in pediatric intensive care, Brett came home with difficulty feeding and tightness in his muscles. Doctors said it was due to reflux. But, as the three boys developed side-by-side, it was quickly evident Brett was struggling. His parents fought to get him Early Intervention therapies as an infant. This proved to be the right path as Brett was not able to sit up, crawl or walk. At age two Brett was diagnosed with Quadriplegic Spastic Cerebral Palsy. 

Brett is happy and healthy and headed into his Junior year of high school! He relies on a wheelchair for mobility, an assistive tech device to help with communication and needs assistance for all areas of daily living from changing positions to eating. In 2019 Brett had surgery to reconstruct his hips that did not develop properly due to his inability to stand and walk independently. He had another surgery in 2020 to fix a blood flow issue in his hip that developed post surgery and to take out the metal hardware that had been placed during the original surgery.

None of us can predict the future. But, we know Brett isn't done growing. All of his current equipment has been adjusted for growth and is reaching it's limits. Brett is also transitioning from pediatric equipment to adult equipment. There are multiple pieces of equipment Brett requires for every day living. Insurance helps cover some of the cost of these expensive items, however,  the out of pocket is still high.  And, there are many items insurance will not cover or has limits to what it will cover. An adaptive shower and toilet seat are not covered but needed for every day hygiene. Brett is getting too heavy to lift, but insurance doesn't cover the cost of a caregiver or a medical grade lift to transfer him from his bed to his chair, toilet, shower or other areas. Insurance doesn't cover ramps for accessibility in and out of the house or an adaptive vehicle.