After waiting out insurance again we finally got casted for band number two. Dominick had become very comfortable about being at Cranial Tech., so he played and laughed all the while we were getting him ready. He even showed off his new skill of getting on all fours and rocking back and forth. He was a little bigger now, so he put up a bit more fuss, but still nothing terrible. Again it was over quickly and by the time bath was over it was all a memory. This time it took the full two weeks for his band to be ready for fitting.
On April 26th, 2005 Dominick was fitted for Doc Band number two he was 7 1/2 months old. Our appointments would now be every two weeks due to his age. When we went for his first appointment he still had a little room left in some areas but needed an adjustment to go another two weeks. Although he hadn't filled his band for the first time he still had improvement. The growth rate does slow a little bit at this age. He went like this at every visit, never filling the band completely but always a little more progress. We decorated his second band with a moose and bear theme at first. We always have so much fun decorating. As the weather got a little warmer I decided he needed a more summery theme, so off I went to the craft store for more stickers. I worked hard on making him a really cool beach theme.
As we approached 8 weeks in band #2 and I noticed his band getting thinner I started to think about the possibility of a third band. His head was unbelievable compared to what it looked like at the start, but he still had a bit of flatness in the back and needed more growth on his forehead and his ears were still looking out of alignment. I knew that third bands were extremely rare, but he was a severe inutero case. That meant we were trying to redirect growth in a skull with bone deformation from they way it grew inutero, not treating the more common positional plagio. I had also noticed that as his head shape improved I was beginning to see the actual bone deformation; the bone just above his left ear was pushing outward. I had a consult with our regular OT Angela at his appointment and we decided that in the next couple weeks we needed to make a decision. I made his next appointment for two weeks.
Before the appointment I asked if we could seek the input of the design team knowing that if there was not enough asymmetry left a band could not work properly, but worrying about the deformation that was still present and could possible get worse, they said yes. I know Dominick's case was different from most, but it really impressed me that they cared enough to do all this extra work to help me find the best solution. I really wanted to take every opportunity to get him every bit of correction, and wanted to try and fix the bulging area above the ear, but what if it didn't work or couldn't be done. When all the information was brought together for me, it laid out this way. Because Dominick's was a severe inutero case, we couldn't be sure that he would receive any more correction from a third band, or that his ears would ever look aligned because of the twisting of his skull. They put pictures together for me and showed me where the skull was trying to grow on an angle. This was the reason for the bone pushing outward. This was really disappointing to me at first because I thought that meant there was no chance to get a third band and the final bit of correction. I was thrilled with Dominick's headshape compared to the deformation we started with and had come to terms with the fact that he may never receive full correction, but I wanted to be able to say " I did everything I could". Then Leslie explained, they just wanted me to understand that there is no way to predict weather we'll get any more correction or be able to hold that bone from pushing further out and that his case was a challenge, but one that CT would be willing to take on if I would like to proceed. I was so happy it brought me to tears. I trusted everyone at CT and the knowledge and expertise of Jeanne Pomatto( CEO of CT ) as I have turned my infant son's head shape over to them for the better part of his first year of life and had seen the miracles they've worked so far. Of course I would proceed. We set up our casting appointment for July 5th. Now it was time to work on the last of his other issues.
I so enjoy reading these posts! Dominick has overcome so much. I know ou are proud of him!
Posted by: Erika | September 18, 2006 at 09:23 AM