Re: kaiser

[Guest guest]

Wow ,

You were thorough. Ok. There are 2 DOC Band offices near you

(relatively speaking). One is a licensed center which may not offer

free evaluations (it's in LA). The other is a CT location which

will offer free evalutions. Here is all of the info...

Los Angeles, California

Cranial Therapies, Inc. — Map

4444 Lankershim Blvd. Suite 108

Toluca Lake, CA 91602

Phone: 818-845-2082

Fax: 818-845-1634

Pomatto, CEO

Karin Sung, MPT

Bitting, BOC, CO

Cranial Technologies, Inc.

8010 Frost Street, #410

San Diego, CA 92123

Phone: 858-571-1217

Toll Free: 866-571-1217

Fax: 858-571-6107

Clinician: Angella Kaiser, PT

Here are some Physicians in California

SAN DIEGO

R. Cohen, MD scohen@...

Ralph E. Holmes, MD rholmes@...

Children's Hospital San Diego

8010 Frost Street, Suite 412

San Diego, CA 92123

858-292-1075

Hal S. Meltzer, MD

Levy, M.D.

8010 Frost Street, Suite 300

San Diego, CA 92123

858-966-8574

Kaweski, MD skaweski@...

Craniofacial Institute

3444 Kearny Villa Road, #401

San Diego, CA 92123

858-974-9876

www.plasticsurgerysandiego.com

, MD

Pediatric Neurosurgery

7930 Frost Street, Suite 103

San Diego, CA 92123

858-560-4791

BURBANK/LOS ANGELES

J. Gordon McComb, M.D.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

1300 N. Vermont Avenue #1006

Los Angeles, CA 90027

323-669-2169

www.chla.org/neurosciences

F. Reinisch, MD

Bresnick, MD sdbresnick@...

E. Gross, MD jgross@...

Children's Hospital of Los Angeles

Division of Plastic Surgery

Mail Stop #96

4550 Sunset Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90054

323-669-4544

www.hopeforkids.com

Brody, MD

Long Beach Neurological

2865 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 105

Long Beach, CA 90806

562-424-3343

My suggestion is take all 3 kiddos to the clinic in San Diego for a

free evaluation ASAP. I know this is much farther away but will

probably be easier in the long run. Then if needed get a referral

to one of the drs listed closer to you (have your ped write the

referral when you give him the data from CT). If a band is needed

for any of the triplets you could use the Cranial Therapies location

closer to you. They will have very experienced orthos. It won't be

quite the same protocal and experience as a CT office but CT keeps a

watchful eye over them and they have gone through all of CT's

training. CT or Crnial Therapies should also monitor for tort and

help with home therapy ideas.

Do what you can with keeping all of the kids off of their flat

spots? Also try and do at home strengthening and stretching with

all of them. I'm sure they were all a bit cramped inutero We

have some great tips here is a link ...

Plagiocephaly/files/Torticollis%

20Help/

This should help you do some aggressive therpay of your own.

Ate the kids in daycare or homecare? Are they sitting on their own

yet? Kids with tort should have limited time in exercausers. There

is a great " chair " for infants. It's called a Bumbo Seat. It's

available on line. Here is a link ...

http://www.bumbobabyseat.com/

You might want to get a couple : ). If they are in daycare I would

tell the provider about them.

So, which one are we talking about? Grant, Kennedy, or Madison?

Grant? lol I can't wait to see pics.

Let me know if I can help anymore.

mom to na

> He are some answers to some of your questions. I thank everyone

for their

> help in this. I am really feeling a little lost and not too sure

as to

> what my goals should be. I will take a look at some of the stuff

I was

> referred to on the site (the surveys and stuff) to do a self

evaluation of

> his condition. I will also try to take some pictures to refer

back to as

> that really sounded like a good idea and a realistic expectation

that I

> won't remember what was, compared to what is, in a couple of

months.

>

> You are concerned about your son's head shape.

> Yes, the left side of the back of his head had flattened and his

face and

> forehead are further out on the one side and his ears are no

aligned with

> each other.

>

> You son is currently in OT being treated for tort.

> Yes, he had his first session with the OT Friday October 1. and

has another

> appt. scheduled for November 8. We are on the cancellation wait

list to try

> and get in sooner though since the OT said she wants to pursue

aggressive

> therapy and see him every other week, unfortunately she only works

2

> mornings and 1 afternoon a week.

>

> You have Kaiser insurance.

> Yes.

>

> Where are you located?

> Southern California, about 45minutes-1hour east of Los Angeles

>

> Does your ped recognize the headshape abnormalities?

> She has, and I was very concerned at their 6 month appointment so

she went

> ahead and gave us the referral to the OT at that time.

>

> How do the other two look?

> Kennedy has a flat spot on the right side of the back of her head

(not as

> bad as Grant's) but she doesn't have tort. She did not get a

referral to

> the OT since she does not have the tort. Madison is going to see

the OT for

> brush therapy since she is so fussy and sensitive to touch. She

does not

> have a flat spot at all, in fact the OT pointed out the opposite,

that she

> has an unusual point in the back of her head. It is near or at

the soft

> spot and it is a pretty prominent point. She asked that I speak

to our Ped

> about it but I haven't called her on it yet so I still don't know

what it

> is. I am just trying to get a referral on Grant right now for his

head.

>

> Have you tried repositioning in the past (7 months is kind of old

to begin

> repo)?

> No, we have only done some neck exercises, but not much, mostly

just making

> him eat facing the other side and trying to get him to lay on his

other

> side (which is mostly unsuccessful).

>

> Was he born with the tort and/or plagio?

> I assume he was born with the tort since it was noticed by the NP

at his

> great starts appointment at 6 days old. Unfortunately it wasn't

made a big

> deal of and I didn't know any better. I just heard that he would

grow out

> of it. I didn't really notice any plagio but I wasn't all there

either. I

> was kind of out if the first couple of months, recovering from a

terrible

> c-section experience and no sleep as I was combo bottle

feeding/nursing

> (and pumping) with the triplets and only help from my partner who

was back

> at work when they were only 1.5 wks old.

>

> Will your ped refer you to a cranial facial surgeon, neruo surgeon,

> or plastic surgeon who specializes in plagio diagnosis and

treatment?

> I called yesterday morning and asked for a referral to the

craniofacial

> team, but I haven't gotten a call back yet. I will call again

tomorrow if

> I don't hear back.

>

> Are there any Cranial Technologies offices near you? (They offer

free

> evaluations).

> I didn't know this. I actually just really started looking into

all this a

> couple of days ago when I went to see the NP who evaluated him at

6 days

> old and diagnosed the tort. She was really upset that I wasn't at

the OT

> sooner and suggested I be really nasty if I had to be with Kaiser

because

> they probably don't want to pay for the treatment.

>

> Does your OT believe he is a good candidate for helmet/band

therapy?

> She mentioned the helmet being an option if the therapy doesn't

help after

> 6 months to 1 year. She brought it up (at the time I didn't know

what she

> was really talking about) and said that it and surgery was a last

resort

> since they don't like to put the kids through wearing a helmet

since it is

> so uncomfortable and unpleasant for them. I agreed that I didn't

want to

> torture my son if it (the helmet) was that bad.

>

> You should post some pictures.

> I will try to take a look at the different pictures on the website

and see

> if I can get a few angle shots of his face, forehead, ears and the

back of

> his head. I think taking the pictures might be easier for me than

actually

> posting them to you site though. Wish me luck on the picture

posting

> adventure.

>

> Thanks again everyone for your help!

>

> Mom to Grant, Kennedy and Madison born 03/09/04