I think I mentioned that Jaxson has a big head- in fact, the dr. was a little worried for a bit. Luckily the growth is leveling out, so there is no longer a concern about tumors or water on the brain (Thank goodness!). The problem with his head now is something called plagiocephaly- basically: a weird shaped head. Because he has torticollis (a tight neck muscle) he developed a flat spot on the side of his head from not holding it straight while lying down. The dr. was not concerned about this since it is only a cosmetic problem. However, we were. Who wants a flat head their whole life? We had heard about 'helmets' for babies with flat spots so we asked our dr. about them. She said that they are really expensive and have not been proven to be worth the money. Well, eventually after a few discussions with several people we realized that maybe dr. doesn't always know what is best for our kids. I mean, "worth the money" to who?? I guarantee that if Jaxson is 4 or 14 and getting made fun of for having a flat head that it would have been worth the money for him! After a great deal of research we found an orthotist in Grand Junction that does the cranial band for babies! The price is $2,500 and our ins. covers it, so really... it was definitely worth the money! Even without ins. it would have been worth it.
The process began with a scan of Jaxson's head. He had to wear a silly sock-type thing over his head and a cool black cape. Then they took measurements so we know what the ending goals are from the starting point. A week later, the helmet was ready! Jaxson had to wear it for 1 hour three different times on the first day. Each day, adding more hours with the helmet. On day 7 he was supposed to have it on 23 hours. He would wear it 23 hours for around 3 months. On day 5 he wore it 9 hours straight and when we took it off there was a sore on his head. That was 2 days ago. We will go back to the dr. guy on Tuesday to get it adjusted, so he gets a break from the helmet for a couple days until then.
Even with the sore, he has tolerated it very well. I think its kind of cool and it's amazing how fast his head has changed. I noticed a difference after the first day!
(The picts are out of order, but here you go...)
Front of the helmet
Superman!!
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