thetadpoles.com

Awhile back Tadd wrote a letter to Cascade, the company that made Derby’s DAFO (Dynamic Ankle Foot Orthotic). He told me after the fact and when I saw the letter it made me choke up a bit. Below is the correspondence between Tadd and Cascade DAFO.

From: Tadd
To: Dafo; Technical support; Customer Service
Subject:Our DAFO Experience

I just wanted to pass on our experience with a DAFO.
My twins were born 16 weeks early, at just 24 weeks and 2 days gestation weighing only 1 pound 6 ounces each.  They both were in the NICU for nearly 4 months and came home in February 2008.  We were pleased with our NICU outcome, especially considering some of the hurdles that they both overcame.  Fast forward for about 1 year – February 2009.  The twins adjusted age is now around 1 year.  My daughter starts to walk and is pretty much on pace with her adjusted age.  My son, on the other hand, is clearly not going to be walking in the near future.  We received a cerebral palsy diagnosis for him sometime in the middle of August, 2009 and the doctor prescribed him a DAFO.  At this point, I was hoping that he would be walking on his own by Christmas.  Then, he received his DAFO on Monday, August 31, 2009 and proceeded to amaze us by taking his first steps only 2 days later.  You can only imagine the elation that his mother and I shared that day. Here is a link to the video so that you can experience his first steps yourself: http://vimeo.com/6421447
There was no stopping him after that.  For a month or two later, he didn’t want to play, he only wanted to walk.
So, while it is a little bit late, I would like to thank you for helping my son. His mobility really means the world to him and also to us.
Thank you,
Tadd

From:DAFO.com
To:Tadd
Subject RE: Our DAFO Experience

Hi Tadd,
Greetings from Cascade Dafo!
Thank you so much for sharing your story about Derby and Loen, they are absolutely adorable. My three co-workers and I just watched the video clip of Derby’s first steps and we’re all in tears (of joy of course). The body language you and your wife display is all-telling. The moment Derby starts walking is so exciting!

We appreciate you taking time to send a message with the video – it means a lot to all of us here at Cascade Dafo. With your permission, we would like to share your video with the entire company, which is 225+ employees. This group of people includes many that have personally touched Derby’s brace. Roughly 400 braces leave our facility every day, so it’s inspiring to learn about the children who benefit from DAFOs.
Thank you again for your message. We look forward to hearing about Derby and Loen’s next steps.

Sincerely,
Annie (and all of us at Cascade Dafo)
Business Development Manager
Cascade Dafo, Inc.

From: Tadd
To: Annie
Subject: RE: Our DAFO Experience

Hi Annie,
Thanks for your response.  We obviously had tears of joy as well.  Of course you have our permission to share our video with all of your employees (or anybody else for that matter).

Tadd

From: Jenny
To: Tadd
Subject: RE: Our DAFO Experience

Hi Tadd,
My name is Jenny and I work with Annie here at Cascade Dafo. We were all so excited about your video that it sparked an idea to add a success story video section to our website. We feel it would be beneficial for others if we share the stories we receive. Your video in particular is very powerful and we love to kick off the new section with your story. Our idea is to post links to already existing videos that families post on the web (Vimeo, YouTube, etc) with their permission.

Would you feel comfortable with us posting a link to your video on our website, www.cascadedafo.com? There could potentially be a lot of traffic to the video so we completely understand if you’d prefer not to.

If you could please let me know your thoughts when you have a chance, that’d be great.

Thanks again for sharing, Tadd.
Sincerely
Jenny
Business Development Assistant
Cascade Dafo, Inc.

From: Tadd
To: Jenny
Subject: RE: Our DAFO Experience

Hi Jenny,
I think that a success story video area on your website is a great idea.

One of the major questions I had when the twins were born was what to expect in the future.  Our medical professionals wouldn’t really tell us, so I had to find the information myself.  While nobody’s situation is exactly the same, it was relieving for me to see that we in fact did have some hope.  That is one of the reasons that we have continued to maintain our website.  So, based on that, feel free to use our video as the first success link on your website.
Let me know when/if you put the new page up so that we can check it out
Tadd

Today the new Success Story link is up. (he was also to be in the spring newsletter but I haven’t seen that yet) I’m so proud of my little man. For all that he gets dealt with he rises to the challenge. From the Cerebral Palsy diagnosis to the recent revelation that he is dealing with microstrabismus (which causes him to see double ALL THE TIME), he doesn’t let it stop him. He just wants to play with his sister, cause havoc, create laughter and be my little boy. I love you Derby (and my Loen too)