Help ... our ortho says our son needs 2nd band after only 8 wks of treatment

June 2, 2002

We are concerned because our son has only been in the helmet for 8

weeks when his ortho told us we need to get a second band, as soon as

possible. (We have now agreed that July 3rd will be the casting date

and he will get the helmet 10 days later which will mean he gets the

second helmet after 3 1/2 months.) Then she said he would be in that

band through November. (In the beginning she couldn't tell us how

long treatment would be, she just kept saying " average treatment time

is 4 1/2 months. " ) It seems a little early to decide he needs a new

band.

BACKGROUND: We have not been able to get our insurance to pay, and we

live in Colorado so we have to fly to Arizona for treatment every

other week. (Which will be $6000 in helmets and 7 months of flights

and cab rides.) Will was 7 1/2 (almost 8) months old when he started

and is 9 1/2 months now. We haven't seen much improvement, and we

believe our ortho is not that experienced and may have messed up our

helmet early on with bad adjustments. We use Cranial Tech in

Arizona. His flatness is all on the back side, and we were told it

was moderate to severe (on a scale of 1 to 10, a 7 or 8.) (His

cephalic index is 99.25 which is more than 2 standard deviations from

normal.)

When we began treatment our ortho didn't do any pictures or

measurements until I insisted. She also hasn't done anything

but " eyeball it " to decide he needs a second band. I think I may

insist on another set of measurements and pictures! (When I asked,

she said that it would come out differently each time because it is

not that scientific!!)

He had bad luck with red spots early on and she had to adjust the

band accordingly. Now the band is pretty loose. When he turns his

head it can actually move so much that his ear is underneath it. Is

this normal?

We want to do what is best, but we were wondering (1) if anyone else

has had this experience where they recommend a second helmet so early

in treatment, (2) if anyone else thinks Margie in Arizona is not that

good (I know there was a different therapist there last year), (3)

how the helmet is supposed to fit, (4) if anyone else didn't get any

measurements or pictures done (until they insisted), and (5) if

anyone has anything else to add.

ANY advice will help!!! Thank you in advance!!!

-Mom to

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