Re: New to Group: My Son has Brachycephaly

[Guest guest]

Hi robyn

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through all of this but there is a light

at the end of the tunnel so to speak. I'm assuming that since your babycenter

name is sweetnjmom that you went to the Paramus location. That is the office

that i go to with my son. he is now 9months old. we started the process when he

was 6 1/2 month and got the band on at 7.75 months. Its been 6 weeks and we have

seen amazing results. we were shocked to see results at the one week check up.

The Doc band is expensive, but in my opinion was the only option for me

whether insurance covered it or not. i was most comfortable with them because

this is ALL they do. They manufacture it and work on it. they train the

employees on how to properly use the product. I'm sure that all companies do

this with the drs they license to use their product. the only thing is once its

given to the dr or orthotist i guess is what they are called, the company has

nothing more to do with it. but again this is just my opinion.

As for the exclusion, I dont know of anyone that has been able to get past

that. But check in the files section of the page under insurace. there may be

some info there. My son doesn't even know hes wearing his band. he doesnt touch

it or fuss with it. I have to say he did better with it then i did.

I hope this helps. Again these are just my opinions. Good luck with what ever

you decide

Kerri

Mom to ph 9 months old doc band 10/09

>

> Hi, I'm Robyn and my son (3.5 mo. - born 8/14/09) has moderate to severe

Brachycephaly. My husband and I took him to Cranial Technologies yesterday for

an assessment. They recommended a DOC band.

>

> I have a few questions.

>

> 1. The DOC band is expensive, but is it the best? Should we look into an

alternative helmet (Star band, Hanger band)?

>

> 2. Our insurance has an exclusion for orthotics for " reshaping " . Has anyone

won an appeal with their insurance? Though I don't know if they'll deny it or

not yet.

>

> 3. How did your child adjust to the helmet?

>

> Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I'm glad to have found this

group, too. I'm also posting on Babycenter's group as sweetnjmom.

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter had brachy too. She's almost 4 now. She wore a starband and did

great, but I think docband is probably the best. it wasn't an option for us due

to insurance and location, but if it is close by that is what I would choose.

You can see before and after pics in the photos section Our Plagio Babies

S/Sydney M. Keep us posted on the progress.

You might want to let people know which insurance company you have. Some are

better than others. Many people appeal. We were lucky and got our band covered

100%.

-christine

sydney, 3.5 yrs, starband grad

>

> Hi, I'm Robyn and my son (3.5 mo. - born 8/14/09) has moderate to severe

Brachycephaly. My husband and I took him to Cranial Technologies yesterday for

an assessment. They recommended a DOC band.

>

> I have a few questions.

>

> 1. The DOC band is expensive, but is it the best? Should we look into an

alternative helmet (Star band, Hanger band)?

>

> 2. Our insurance has an exclusion for orthotics for " reshaping " . Has anyone

won an appeal with their insurance? Though I don't know if they'll deny it or

not yet.

>

> 3. How did your child adjust to the helmet?

>

> Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I'm glad to have found this

group, too. I'm also posting on Babycenter's group as sweetnjmom.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Kerri,

Yes, I went to Paramus. I am not looking forward to my return trip for his

" casting " (or digital image 360) in a few weeks since it will be right around

Christmas and driving in Paramus sucks. But I digress.

We're most likely just going to go ahead with the DOC band, regardless of the

cost. I like that the people at Cranial Technologies ONLY does this and I'm

hopeful from all the before/after photos I've seen.

I don't know if we'll get past the exclusion (we have United HealthCare through

my husband's employer in NYC) but I'm not going to delay treatment. If we can

fight this and get reimbursed, that will be great. But otherwise I'm glad that

we'll get a band on by the time he's 4 months old.

Thanks for the reply. I'll be sure to read over all the posts before asking any

more frequently asked questions.

Robyn

> >

> > Hi, I'm Robyn and my son (3.5 mo. - born 8/14/09) has moderate to

severe Brachycephaly. My husband and I took him to Cranial Technologies

yesterday for an assessment. They recommended a DOC band.

> >

> > I have a few questions.

> >

> > 1. The DOC band is expensive, but is it the best? Should we look into an

alternative helmet (Star band, Hanger band)?

> >

> > 2. Our insurance has an exclusion for orthotics for " reshaping " . Has anyone

won an appeal with their insurance? Though I don't know if they'll deny it or

not yet.

> >

> > 3. How did your child adjust to the helmet?

> >

> > Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I'm glad to have found this

group, too. I'm also posting on Babycenter's group as sweetnjmom.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Robyn,

i agree about the ride to paramus. i cant stand having to drive there. the

only plus about starting when they are a little older is that they go every 2

weeks instead of every week because the growth is slower. We've been very happy

with everyone there. who is your clinician? The DSI imaging is not that bad.

They dont do casting there just the imaging. they do put something over his face

when they do it. my son was ok with it he tried to eat it in fact. its very

hseer and breathable and its only on when they take the pics. But for a couple

of days before i started laying something on his face when i changed his diaper,

kind of like peek a boo so he got used to it. Good luck!

Kerri

> > >

> > > Hi, I'm Robyn and my son (3.5 mo. - born 8/14/09) has moderate to

severe Brachycephaly. My husband and I took him to Cranial Technologies

yesterday for an assessment. They recommended a DOC band.

> > >

> > > I have a few questions.

> > >

> > > 1. The DOC band is expensive, but is it the best? Should we look into an

alternative helmet (Star band, Hanger band)?

> > >

> > > 2. Our insurance has an exclusion for orthotics for " reshaping " . Has

anyone won an appeal with their insurance? Though I don't know if they'll deny

it or not yet.

> > >

> > > 3. How did your child adjust to the helmet?

> > >

> > > Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I'm glad to have found this

group, too. I'm also posting on Babycenter's group as sweetnjmom.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

We are also just starting this process and have learned that UHC (which we also

have--unluckily for both of us, huh?) has an exclusion in our Certificate of

Coverage for cranial banding. One of the moms from this group, Jill, emailed me

a chain of emails she had with a CT person regarding dealing with UHC. I can

send it to you if she hasn't already. One suggestion she had was checking with

your husband's employer to see if they will request UHC to " override the

exclusion. " The emails go into more detail.

> > >

> > > Hi, I'm Robyn and my son (3.5 mo. - born 8/14/09) has moderate to

severe Brachycephaly. My husband and I took him to Cranial Technologies

yesterday for an assessment. They recommended a DOC band.

> > >

> > > I have a few questions.

> > >

> > > 1. The DOC band is expensive, but is it the best? Should we look into an

alternative helmet (Star band, Hanger band)?

> > >

> > > 2. Our insurance has an exclusion for orthotics for " reshaping " . Has

anyone won an appeal with their insurance? Though I don't know if they'll deny

it or not yet.

> > >

> > > 3. How did your child adjust to the helmet?

> > >

> > > Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I'm glad to have found this

group, too. I'm also posting on Babycenter's group as sweetnjmom.

> > >

> >

>