Intro - DSi Today

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. I have been " lurking " on this group for the past couple of weeks. I

have really enjoyed reading the posts and have already learned a lot along with

having more questions/concerns. My daughter, Mackenzie is 9 mo and has

Brachycephaly and right Plagio. According to the clinician, she is in the " high

moderate to low severe " range. I will post her Photo Study soon. We are going to

CT in Charlotte. Today, we went for the DSi and paid for the treatment, so I

guess we are committed to it now. She did fine with the DSi. She was even fine

with the stocking they put over her face, although mommy was a little nervous

about that one.

After reading a lot of the posts with everyone talking about their

" measurements " , I started getting a little concerned because CT never gave us

any measurements. Today, I asked about them. She showed us the measurements but

did mention that they only take them for insurance purposes. She said that they

are basically measuring from one bone point to another and that the severe areas

may not always show up in the particular areas they are measuring. That is why

they don't pay a lot of attention to the measurements. I would like to thank

for explaining the measurements. That helped me to understand it a LITTLE

better. I don't remember exactly what each number represented, because I did not

get a copy, but what I could remember of her numbers, I wrote down when I got to

the car. The Cephalic Index was 91.00 underneath that was a +2 (not sure what

that meant) The next number she gave was a 7. I think this was the Cranial Vault

Assym. The last number was a 6. I think I remember her telling me that this was

the measurements from ear to nose (maybe?). Does this make sense to anyone? I am

not sure where the Cephalic Index " should be " either. All I really know is that

these were the numbers in this order, if anyone knows what CT typically measures

first, second, so forth please explain this to me. I would love anyone's advice

or input on Mackenzie, just please don't tell me that you don't think her

measurements are severe enough to do the treatment, since we just forked out all

the money today. :-)

Thanks.

Amy

Mackenzie - 9 months (receiving DOC band on April 29th)

[Guest guest]

Hi Amy-

We went to the CT in Charlotte and loved them. was our therapist but he

since left to take a different career path. But we've seen a couple other

therapists there and liked them just as well.

It's okay, 91% for cephalic index is severe enough to band, so no worries there.

The " normal " range is anywhere between 78 and 85 (depending who you ask). And CT

doesn't depend a lot on the numbers, for the exact reasons they gave you. The

measurements, at least the way CT does them, are based on anthropometric

methodology. Basically it's the way anthropologists measure the skull bones of

the fossils/articifacts they discover. Which really, is nothing like a living

human baby's head (the first issue being that the movement/fussing of the baby

is a completely different dynamic than a still lifeless skull). So they do

measure from specific bone landmarks that might not necessarily take into effect

the worst area of flat spots (for instance, there really is no measurement of

the back lower head taken and for a lot of babies, that could be the worst

flatness). CT is very visual, they only measure at the beginning and at the end,

and they aren't quick to offer the numbers to the parents, cause they honestly

don't put that much stock in them. And it seems to work well that way for them.

The +2 is the standard deviation, and to be honest, I'm not sure what that tells

you, since I did not deal with brachy at all first hand. Maybe someone else can

explain it. The 7 and 6 have to do with the plagio part. Were they right next to

each other on the sheet or was the 6 further down? The 7 is definitely one of

the cranial vault numbers, the 6, if it was further down, could be the skull

base asym. Otherwise, if they were right on top of each other, the 7 is the

traditional cranial vault and the 6 is the cranial vault (both measure the top

of the head but from different landmarks).

I know it's hard sometimes for us, I go back and forth on this as well,

depending on the numbers to show proof of how much improvement you're getting,

but the next minute thinking the numbers don't matter cause they look good

anyway (or vice versa). Plus, when we are talking about the severity of our

babies on this board but not seeing pictures all the time, it's easy to throw

out the numbers for some sort of " proof " of the severity we are discussing, or

lack thereof. My advice (when I remember to give it) is to try to focus on the

visual improvement you see throughout the process, more than the numbers

themselves. As they grow and move through life, people aren't going to be coming

up to them asking for their cephalic index or skull base asymmetry, you know

what I mean? So I think it's more important that parents try to strive for

" normal " in the way the head looks, rather than reaching a set number. Which is

sometimes easier said than done!

Good Luck!

Jake-2.5 DOCBand Grad 9/08

Jordan-5

>

> Hi everyone. I have been " lurking " on this group for the past couple of weeks.

I have really enjoyed reading the posts and have already learned a lot along

with having more questions/concerns. My daughter, Mackenzie is 9 mo and has

Brachycephaly and right Plagio. According to the clinician, she is in the " high

moderate to low severe " range. I will post her Photo Study soon. We are going to

CT in Charlotte. Today, we went for the DSi and paid for the treatment, so I

guess we are committed to it now. She did fine with the DSi. She was even fine

with the stocking they put over her face, although mommy was a little nervous

about that one.

>

> After reading a lot of the posts with everyone talking about their

" measurements " , I started getting a little concerned because CT never gave us

any measurements. Today, I asked about them. She showed us the measurements but

did mention that they only take them for insurance purposes. She said that they

are basically measuring from one bone point to another and that the severe areas

may not always show up in the particular areas they are measuring. That is why

they don't pay a lot of attention to the measurements. I would like to thank

for explaining the measurements. That helped me to understand it a LITTLE

better. I don't remember exactly what each number represented, because I did not

get a copy, but what I could remember of her numbers, I wrote down when I got to

the car. The Cephalic Index was 91.00 underneath that was a +2 (not sure what

that meant) The next number she gave was a 7. I think this was the Cranial Vault

Assym. The last number was a 6. I think I remember her telling me that this was

the measurements from ear to nose (maybe?). Does this make sense to anyone? I am

not sure where the Cephalic Index " should be " either. All I really know is that

these were the numbers in this order, if anyone knows what CT typically measures

first, second, so forth please explain this to me. I would love anyone's advice

or input on Mackenzie, just please don't tell me that you don't think her

measurements are severe enough to do the treatment, since we just forked out all

the money today. :-)

>

> Thanks.

>

> Amy

> Mackenzie - 9 months (receiving DOC band on April 29th)

>