Re: decided to band

March 16, 2004

We started our daughter early, 4 months. Her's was mild to moderate.

Her ear was slightly misaligned. She only wore it 2 months. The first

day she got it, she was fussy but after that, it bothered me more

then her. I missed being able to kiss her head all the time. I felt

like if I cradled her incorrectly, it would slip a bit an be

uncomfortable. She, however, didn't seem to be phased. Mostly, she

hated the exercises we had to do while she was out of it. We never

had a sleep issue. They seem to adapt quite easily; better then their

parents! We had a DOC band so I don't know if the material is the

same but if it is, make sure you get the 99% rubbing alcohol and

scrub it really hard twice a day with a towel. I also let it sit in

the sun for an hour. We never had a smell issue. I think the sun

really helps kill any bacteria from their heads getting sweaty.

The time will go by quickly and in the end, you will be glad you did

it. I am very happy with the results. By older daughter has plagio

too and we chose not to go into treatment. Although I am really okay

with that decision, there are times that I wish we had. She is almost

4 and her head shape hasn't changed. You can really only see it when

her hair is wet.

Decorate the band. It takes away some of the " medical " feeling.

I enjoyed getting stares and it opened conversation to better inform

people about the problem and solutions.

Anyway, best of luck.

--- In Plagiocephaly , " tracybpenny " <tracybpen@j...>

wrote:

> Hello All -

>

> Well, we've decided to band Luke. As I posted last week the plastic

> surgeon we saw last week said the decision was really up to us.

> Luke's plagio is very mild, but still worrisome to me. We saw the

> orthotist with Hanger today and decided to go with the Hanger

Cranial

> Band (very similar to STARband). As far as I could tell the

> orthotist is qualified and experienced, it's so hard to know for

sure

> since I haven't ever spoken to anyone who's used this facility for a

> band. But, my questions were answered to my satisfaction, and now

> I'm just praying that everything will go well. Hanger has a scanner

> system so Luke didn't have to go through the normal casting process.

> It was all very quick. We should have our band in a couple weeks.

> Now that we've made the decision to band the idea of having Luke

wear

> a helmet is much more real to me. I actually got kind of sick to my

> stomach as Luke's head was being scanned. I guess I just never

> thought that one of my children would have to go through something

> like this. I realize that all this is nothing compared to other

> medical problems, but still a big deal for me. I worry so much about

> how Luke will react to the helmet. Will he be more fussy, will he

> have trouble sleeping with it on, etc. I know that I would have

> regretted not banding Luke and probably would have looked at his

head

> everyday of his life and saw his flat spot. But now I'm just really

> wanting this to all be over. I feel like this has all consumed my

> life for so long. At least now the decision process is over and we

> can just concentrate on getting through the helmet process.

>

> mom of Luke, 8 months

> Columbia, MO

March 16, 2004

,

Isn't it a relief to have come to a decision? Let us know when Luke's

helmet is in and how he's adjusting.z