Re: Torn on Decision-

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Just wanted to write to you as I see how much encouragement you give

to other moms on this board and wanted to let you know that I was

another mom that banded her son late. My son started his Doc Band at

the age of 14 months and graduated at 18months. ( I wish he could

have worn it longer but due to the life span of 4mo of the Doc Band

he only wore it this amount of time. He actually wore an ill-fitting

Hanger Band from the age of 5mo-10mo (long story) and then I listened

to his dr who said nothing else could be done at that point due to

his age. Decided on my own apx when he was 12 months to go on my own

to C.T. Then demanded a rx so that he could wear the Doc Band. Even

tho I banded late as well he did receive moderate improvement, of

course not 100%, (partially my fault since I should have went with my

gut and went w/C.T. from the get go) but def. improvement. My son is

now 2 years old (just turned 2 on 3/1) and has been out of his band

for 6 months and even tho little I have seen a little bit post

rounding. I do not scrutizize his head as much as I did when he first

graduated and only notice his flat spot in the bath when his head is

wet and completely matted down. IMO I really dont think it will be

noticeable when he is older. His before and after pics are posted

under C.J. Photo Study (C photos) in case your interested in seeing

them. Just wanted to give you some encouragement from one late

banding mom to another!!

Best of luck 2 you!

- Mom to CJ (2 years old, 3/1)

Doc Band Graduate, 9/2007

> >

> > I've had a very tough day. I visited the specialist at Hanger

> today, who said that my daughter

> > 's assemetry was 15 mm. The Hanger specialist didn't want to

> say severe or moderate,

> > just that she would qualify for a helmet. As I've been visiting

> the site, someone said that

> > 15+mm was considered severe. However, before this appointment,

> when I went to see the

> > referring physician, he acted like she was a non-issue and he

said

> she was considered a mild

> > case. Being someone that is wishy-washy, I am completely torn

> about what to do. I don't

> > know whether to hold more weight to an actual physician, or a

> helmet specialist. Who's

> > evaluation do I put more weight on? I feel like I'm getting

> conflicting information and it's very

> > frustrating! Is there anyone out there who did not band their

> child and then regretted it, or

> > felt the decision was ok? I worry about little things, like her

> being able to wear a ponytail in

> > her hair and not feel awkward about it. I just want to make the

> best decision for her now, and

> > don't know how big of an impact it will be on her later. Thanks

> for letting me vent.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks ! I did just look at C.J.'s pictures the other day after

you posted something about his age, and I do see a difference in his

before and afters. I am encouraged to hear that you have also seen

some natural correction. I do believe in my heart that there will be

more natural correction throughout their life. I mean, I know I

ranted about the surgeons, but they couldn't have graduated from med

school if they had absolutely no clue what they were talking about.

So I believe them when they say that the head continues to grow into

their teens and their sutures don't fully fuse until their 20s. I

just believed that my son's forehead was beyond natural correction.

So I really hope we see some improvement in that area. I went with

CT and the DocBand because of their reputation with older babies. I

do worry that we could have gotten 2 more months of wear from a

StarBand and might miss a growth spurt down the road. But I'm hoping

we might counteract that by straddling the 18-month/half year mark

in the DocBand. I just have a feeling my son is due for a growth

spurt soon. We shall see!

Thanks for the encouragement!

Jake-18m (tort resolved/rt plagio/DocBand 2/11/08)

Jordan-4

> > >

> > > I've had a very tough day. I visited the specialist at Hanger

> > today, who said that my daughter

> > > 's assemetry was 15 mm. The Hanger specialist didn't want

to

> > say severe or moderate,

> > > just that she would qualify for a helmet. As I've been

visiting

> > the site, someone said that

> > > 15+mm was considered severe. However, before this appointment,

> > when I went to see the

> > > referring physician, he acted like she was a non-issue and he

> said

> > she was considered a mild

> > > case. Being someone that is wishy-washy, I am completely torn

> > about what to do. I don't

> > > know whether to hold more weight to an actual physician, or a

> > helmet specialist. Who's

> > > evaluation do I put more weight on? I feel like I'm getting

> > conflicting information and it's very

> > > frustrating! Is there anyone out there who did not band their

> > child and then regretted it, or

> > > felt the decision was ok? I worry about little things, like

her

> > being able to wear a ponytail in

> > > her hair and not feel awkward about it. I just want to make

the

> > best decision for her now, and

> > > don't know how big of an impact it will be on her later.

Thanks

> > for letting me vent.

> > >

> >

>