Hooded and Scanned!!

Ari finally had an appointment with a craniofacial specialist! Ari has flat head syndrome (also known as plagiocephaly) and we met with Dr. Wood, with Gillette Children's, at Regions Hospital today to see what could be done about it.

Dr. Wood checked to see if Ari's head was equally flat on the back, if Ari's ears were parallel and in line with his shoulders like they should be, and if Ari was able to turn his head equally to each side. He decided that Ari did not need any physical therapy because he could turn his head to both sides just fine. He said that sometimes flat heads will round out over time, but that it's not guaranteed. He told us that Ari could be fitted for a CranioCap if we so desired, which we had already decided we wanted to do.

Ari and I were next directed to a medical devices area of the hospital. There, we met with a woman who was going to size Ari for a helmet. She answered several of my questions before we began. She told me that the most common downside is that Ari could be warmer from wearing the helmet. She said that for the best results, he should wear his helmet 22-23 hrs/day. She said that parents often become fond of the helmet, because their child is slightly more protected from injury, though that is not the intent of the helmet. And she said that on occasion the helmet may make them slightly more confident than they normally would be, but that once the helmet is off they quickly become used to getting injured on occasion again.

After answering my questions, she scanned Ari's head with a special hand-held scanner that made a computer image of his head. As you can see in the photo above, he had to wear a silly ski mask looking thing for the scanner to be able to read the contours of his head. The scanner looked and functioned almost exactly like the hand-held ones they use at the library to scan your book's bar code. You can see part of the resulting image on the computer screen in the background. Ari did very well through it all, sitting still and very intrigued by everything. See, he's giving you the "okay" sign in the photo too! ; )

I was told that it will take 2 weeks for the helmet to arrive. At that time, we'll have another fitting appointment. A week later we will have a followup appointment. Then, for the next 2-3 months, Ari will have appointments every two weeks to adjust the helmet as needed. As his head grows, the back of it will push out. She said that a certain spot on the very top/back of his head, where the bones come together, may not be perfectly round by the end, but that there are usually very positive results.

So begins our stint with a helmet. I will try to keep you all posted. = )