New to Group - Son Just Diagnosed

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. I've been reading all of the posts for the last several

weeks in anticipation of our appointment yesterday with the

craniofacial group at UCLA. I have " known " for some time (since he

was 3 weeks old) that Max has Plagiocephaly, but our pediatrician

blew it off until his 6 month appointment, at which time she finally

concurred that it might be worthwhile for him to be seen by a

specialist. It then took us one month to get an appointment with the

cranio group and Max is now 7 months old. At yesterday's appointment

the diagnosis was confirmed and this is what we were told:

1. You can do nothing and it will probably correct itself within six

months. I do have to say that in the month he started sleeping on

his stomach it has actually gotten a little better.

2. You can try active repositioning techniques.

3. You can try helmet therapy and it will probably correct itself

within three months.

4. It's just cosmetic, there are currently no developmental issues

with Max and there won't be in the future because of the Plagio.

Supposedly, the doctors we saw are the " experts " in the field, but I

didn't get a very warm and fuzzy feeling about them.

At any rate, my husband and I don't know what to do. My husband was

leaning toward waiting two months, seeing if there's any improvement

and then making a decision. My understanding is that the earlier you

start the better, and as it is Max would probably be 8 months old

before he started helmet therapy. I was leaning toward begining

helmet therapy as soon as possible, but I have such mixed feelings

about it (especially the casting). Everyone we know who has gone

through this said the helmet was the best decision they made but that

the casting was horrible.

I know you all probably can't make the decision for me, but I guess

I'm just looking for support and advice as we go through this.

Thanks a lot and looking forward to getting to know you better.

Laurie

mom to Eli and Max