All done :-/

[Guest guest]

After seven months, I've finally developed a sense of when Clara's

skull has slipped past her STARband's holding points. This is

different from when the helmet can no longer be closed on her head;

there is a two-week period afterward in which the helmet *can* be

worn, but flexes in a counter-productive fashion, and, in our

experience, makes the plagio look worse than ever.

Ironically, my first use of this perceptive power was to terminate

treatment. Today I got another appointment on short notice (they've

been good about that, at least) and gave the orthotist a crack at

making the helmet right again. We talked a little about possible

alterations, and neither of us seemed to have any good ideas, so I

didn't put him through a pointless exercise. Since he had no

confidence of restoring the fit with strategic subtractions and

additions, he a first advised further wearing without modification.

But that was only because I had previously laid out a definite plan

to use the helmet like a retainer for a one-month period. When I let

him know that ending treatment was still on the table in my mind,

that was deemed the lowest risk of worsening her head shape.

I was surprised that it seems to take about two weeks, starting from

a good adjustment, and regardless of circumferential growth, for her

helmet to slip. I think it's because, in order to achieve an

effective fit for asymmetry on an older kid, the helmet has to be

tighter in the first place.

Clara remained tolerant to the end, even though the misaligned

closure was found to be abrading her scalp. I gave her a chance to

throw the helmet in the garbage immediately, but she declined, and

examined it carefully during our ride home. She's wasn't thrilled by

any means, but she hasn't asked for it to be placed on her head

again, either. I reassured her that we would get her different hats,

like her sister. And she seems to be sleeping better already

tonight. I folded her crocheted blanket into a long pillow and put

her in winter-weight PJs.

She can now understand English on a word-for-word basis, so I have to

be careful about expressing disappointment about her pronounced ear

misalignment and remaining flat spot as I transition into explaining

the *absence* of the helmet to other people. It really doesn't upset

me, anyway. I was like an extremely aged man, resigned to fate, and

now I'm just relieved that it's over.

*Is* it really over? I'll be inspecting it over the next four days,

certainly, and then again in two weeks as the family doctor will

hopefully take some measurements for us. What is the standard for

exit photos, one week after taking the helmet off? I'll check in

again with some new data and conclusions for the group.

--

Thad Launderville

Montpelier, VT

Clara age 23 1/2 months, STARband graduate TODAY!