Re: Just got conflicting advice--long version

[Guest guest]

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I could not believe my eyes when I read your post. I took my daughter

to the head clinic last Thursday and had a strikingly similar

response. In fact, I spent all day on the phone today trying to get

answers from the office and the insurance company. Now, I've been

" googling " tonight and trying to get answers, so here I am.

My daughter is 10months old, so a little different since she has been

sitting unsupported for months now and it is next to impossible to

reposition her. , the nurse practitioner was very nice and

thorough. Took history, examined Sloan (my daughter) and took her time

while explaining her observations. She all but had a script written

and was about to get Thom, the orthotist, for measurements. Dr.

Singhal came in quite abruptly, with two residents (which was fine).

He took one look, said " her head is huge! " (Which it isn't, actually

on the small side and the Nurse Practitioner told him this). Next he

looked at her insurance and said " They won't cover it, she doesn't

need it. Her hair just needs to grow. " His tone was quite flippant and

rude. I had Sloan's grandma with me and we were both taken aback.

They left the room for about 25 minutes, during which I can only

assume they had to " get the story straight " and at least agree to tell

me the same thing, since it was two totally differing opinions I had

just been given. Anyways, Thom also measured my DD at " at least a 10 " .

I went round and round with them, only to hear that she " might " grow

out of it and her hair will cover it. Well, her asymmetry is not only

in the back, but also in her forehead and her ears are quite shifted.

She was 6 weeks premature, I had oligo (low fluid) and she also was

dx'd with IuGR, all things that are classic precursors to plagio.

Additionally, her ped mentioned it as early as 6 weeks, again at 2

months and I was ALWAYS repositioning and she never ever sat in her

carseat, outside of brief travel. With her growth slowing, it seems

logical that she will have the greatest improvement with a helmet

sooner, rather than later, but now I am having to do the run around

with the office and insurance. One receptionist actually said to me

today that his attitude was probably attributed to the fact that he

sees such severe facial deformities, however, that was no excuse for

treating us like dirt and disregarding the concerns. I can see how

that would be easy to do, but it is inexcusable.

Also, the NP is the one who does the head clinic and Dr. Singhal is

not usually present. I feel like if her judgement is ok when he is

gone, why would he publicly refute her decision and do it in an

embarrassing (to her) and uncomfortable (to us) sort of way?

I am relieved to know that I am not the only one, but also that much

more disgusted that he has been treating people like this. I have a

grievance letter composed in my head, but am holding out on sending it

until my head has cleared a bit.

Feel free to email me!

Molly

>

> I've been reading this group for a while but this is my

> first post.

>

> I noticed my son had a flat spot at 3 months (and WISHED

> I'd paid more attention to his sleep position before that---

> don't we all!) and started a massive counter-positioning

> campaign while we waited to see a specialist.

>

> He is five months old today and we finally saw Dr.

> Singhal in Children's Mercy of Kansas City. First we

> saw the nurse and the orthotist. They measured

> at 10mm, which was pretty much what I was expecting.

> So he's a moderate case. Fortunately everyone agrees

> there is no asymmetry in his face and almost none in

> his ears: it's all in the back. The nurse and

> the orthotist seemed to be fairly keen on him getting

> a helmet, which I was too, because I want it fixed

> and I want to start early.

>

> Then Dr. Singhal, who is the main cranio/facial plastic

> surgeon there, and oversees all such cases, walks in.

> He says, " Why don't you just wait for a month or six

> weeks? Maybe this will resolve itself, and besides

> he already has kind of a flat forehead. If you put

> a helmet on it won't have a chance to round out.

> What do you care about: how he looks from the

> front...or the back? "

>

> So my main question is, has anyone's child gotten a

> misshapen forehead from a helmet? Also, has anyone

> gotten much correction from 10mm at 5 months by

> counter-positioning alone?

>

> Any input on mysituation would be appreciated!

> Thanks!

>

>