Re: New to group...anyone from Vancouver, BC?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm from North Delta and we go to Valley Orthocare too. I guess we

notice our daughter's plagio at about 4mo. We tried repositioning

for a few weeks but it did not help. I was referred to ped who told

me to " continue repo and it will round out on it's own. Come back in

4 weeks " . This went on for awile with no correction. I finally had

to say that I wanted someone elses opinion. She sent me to

Children's hospital. The therapist there said she had " mild " plagio

and that it was up to us whether to helmet or not. After a week we

decided to go with it. I called Valley Orthocare and had an

appointment 3 weeks later. The casting went very well. My daughter

really likes Lou the Orthotist. We went in about a week later for a

trial fit then another week later we had the helmet. She was a week

shy of 11mo at this point, alot later then I had hoped. She has now

been wearing the helmet for almost 6mo. She has had little

correction. Also, she only grew 4mm in circumference from Aug -

Oct. Alan, the other Orthotist, said we will keep her in it for

another 2mo and go from there. She will be 18mo at this time.

Apparently their growth really plateus at this point. I am hopefull

that she will have a growth spurt during those 2mo. Unfortunately,

we do not have an extended heath plan, however, pharmacare did cover

a small part of the cost. Even if she only has some correction, I am

glad we did it. At least I can say we tried everything for her. I

have 5 photos of her in helmet in the " C " file under Chantel. You

will see I ended up painting her helmet pink and I decorate with

stickers. I originaly chose a really cute light pink fabric but

after they covered it with resin, it went yellowish. Please be

careful with the fabric you choose. I am much happier now because I

can change the stickers anytime I want. Right now she has Ariel on

it. I don't want my story to discurrage anyone. Every child is

different and my daughter did start late.

Francine

> >

> > Hi Jenn

> >

> > This is basically how our situation came about:

> > Around 6 weeks old I noticed the flatness of my son's head and

> tried

> > my own repoing without success..

> > At his 3 month appt. my family doctor noted the flatness, and

said

> > to continue with repoing and see how his head looked at 6 months.

> > At about 18 weeks old I took him back very concerned because

> despite

> > repoing his head seemed to look even worse, and I did not want to

> > wait until his 6 month appt.

> > My doctor said that my concerns were cosmetic, but knowing how

> > concerned I was he said he would have my son referred to

Children's

> > Hospital for further diagnosis.

> > I waited a couple weeks, had no call from Children's, called my

> > doctor's office, and they said if I hadn't neard in one month

from

> > when they had sent in the request, then I should check back.

> > Of course a month went by with no call, so I checked with my

> > doctor's office and they looked into it and I finally received a

> > call from Children's the following week. Whew.

> > When the lady from Children's Hospital called she set up an appt.

> > for about 1 1/2 months later - Nov.19- and also gave me the

number

> > for Valley Orthocare. She told me to call them and set up for my

> son

> > to have a casting of his head after we left our appt. at

> Children's,

> > on the same day.

> > So these steps were done without any sort of specialist or anyone

> > besides my family doctor looking at my son's head.

> > I called Valley Orthocare and they basically set up everything as

> if

> > my son for sure was getting a helmet, and if for some reason we

> > didn't need one we were to cancel everything.

> > When she told me the cost I was surprised, and I started looking

> > into our extended healthcare plan. I called them and they said

they

> > needed a doctor's note, or referral for the cranial orthotic, and

a

> > quote of what material was used to make it. They considered it a

> > brace if it was made out of metal or rigid plastic, and it would

be

> > covered if it was medically necessary.

> > I called Valley Orthocare, and the lady there very graciously

faxed

> > over an estimate letter for the helmet-it is a standard letter

they

> > use and just put in your info.

> > It explains the procedure, what it is made of, and the cost of

> > providing the helmet.

> > I then made another appt. with my family doctor, and asked him to

> > write a prescription or note saying that the helmet was medically

> > necessary. I think at this point he agreed that this was beyond

> > cosmetic because the severity of my son's brachy makes his head

> > really bulge at the sides, and that is what concerns me the most.

> > I sent everything into our insurance company, along with a letter

> > from myself, and just found out that it was approved. Our work

plan

> > is really good, and covers 100% with no deductible. I have to pay

> up

> > front when we take the helmet, and then the plan reimburses me.

> > I hope our situation helps you. Every case is different I

> > understand, but it is nice to know that there are others close to

> > home who are going through the same thing. I feel very

optimitstic

> > about everything because I know a helmet will definitely help my

> > son, and I now that as a parent I did everything I was supposed

to,

> > he just has a soft skull, more so than most babies.

> >

> > I now sit in limbo awaiting our appt. at Children's Hospital. I

> will

> > let you know more once we go.

> >