HyProCure Let My Daughter Dance, Hike, Run, and Play

“In 2016, when Aria was 4 years old, we were rear-ended by someone under the influence. 

As we recovered over the course of the next few months, I noticed that Aria’s balance was really off. I couldn’t recall if her balance had always been off or if this was a new development. She was also frequently tired when playing in any active way, needing to rest or asking to be carried. She often woke up in the middle of the night crying in pain because her legs hurt. 

I assumed it was growing pains or residual injuries from the accident. I started paying closer attention to when she’d wake up, what she’d been doing, and physical milestones she should have been able to do by then that she couldn’t do – like skipping or balancing on one leg. I also noticed that her shoe treads were more worn out near the arch of the foot than is normally seen. 

When her night pain and balance didn’t improve over time and proceeded to get worse, I asked our chiropractor to take a look at her. He looked for all of five minutes and immediately handed me a brochure for Dr. Joel Foster. He said we definitely needed someone who specialized in feet to take a look at our daughter. 

Dr. Foster saw us in 2016 and confirmed that Aria indeed had misaligned feet and would be a good candidate for the HyProCure stent. Because she was only 4, he recommended that we use inserts in her shoes and see if that improved function and pain at first. Obviously, if we could manage it and she was doing well without the surgery, then we didn’t need to proceed with surgery. 

A few months later, we followed up and, while we had seen some improvement, Aria was still in a lot of pain. Aria loves to dance and has since she was 2. She was frustrated by not being able to do things in her class, and because a 30-minute class without her inserts caused so much pain, she would sit in the car sobbing.

We needed to save up in order to move forward with the procedure, which we agreed to do when she was 5. In October 2017, Aria had her first stent placed. She was incredibly brave, and Dr. Foster was SO kind and gentle with her. Nine days after her first procedure, she was up and walking around in the boot. Six weeks later, she had her second stent placed, and just a few days after that, she was up and walking on that foot. 

Overall, I think full recovery took about 4 months for her, but she was very wary of walking, running, jumping, etc., afraid that it would hurt. It was just a few months after the second procedure that she finally skipped for the first time in Ballet. Aria, her ballet teacher, and I cried. We were SO proud of her. The summer following, she went to her first Girl Scout camp. She walked ALL DAY long; we’re talking at least 5 miles in total. She was exhausted, but there were no tears that night because her legs didn’t hurt!

It has been 4 years since the procedure was done, and she still says that she is glad that Dr. Foster did her procedures. She says that she wouldn’t be able to dance and hike and run a mile and jump and play like she does if he hadn’t. Aria dreams of being a dance teacher someday.”