Re: Older infants with the DOC band

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim! I am Kaycee in Albany NY - our daughter was 1 week short of

her first b-day when she got the band. She had moderate plagio. She

had left frontal bulge, ear misalignment (left more forward than

right) and left side flattening. After just eight weeks in the band

the front is symmetrical - no bulge and there is some rounding out on

the left. The ears are still a little misaligned. The tech thinks

another month ought to do it. Maggie is a big girl and has always

been off the height chart - I don't know if it is because she is so

big that she is still growing fast and making the treatment work more

quickly. Good luck. Kaycee

..

> My son did not receive his band until he was over 13 months

> old. He has been seeing a cranial facial specialist since he was

> four months old, but we were told that with aggressive

repositioning

> and neck exercises that the problem should correct itself. It

didn't

> and that's why we got such a late start.

> I was hoping to find other parents that have an older child (casted

> after a year old) in the DOC band. There is not much literature on

> it's effectiveness for someone Will's age. He is also going to

> Cranio/Sacral Therapy 3 times a week. Does anyone have any advice

or

> information that they would share with me. It would be greatly

> appreciated!

> Thanks,

> Kim

[Guest guest]

> My son did not receive his band until he was over 13 months

> old.

Kim,

My son, Conor, received his helmet at about 13 1/2 months; he's 15

months old now. The orthotist measured his head the other day and

said that his head hadn't grown at all during the time in the helmet.

That means we have to wait for a growth spurt before we see any

change. I was really disheartened because this means we'll be in the

helmet for longer than the 4 months we were told at first.

I don't have any good advice for you, but I'd really like to stay in

touch with you because our children's start dates are so close. It

took a year for Conor's doctor to admit that his head wasn't going to

round out on its own. I'm still really sad and angry that she ignored

my concerns for so long and that our neurosurgeon says we'll get

" some " correction. Most days I'm okay with it and say things

to myself like: better late than never, I'm glad I found this support

group, when Conor has hair no one will notice, etc.

Best of luck with treatment. Please keep us posted.

, Conor's mom

[Guest guest]

To Kim and everyone else here:

Sorry my last message was so pessimistic (about getting started late

with helmet therapy). Kim, that wasn't the message you wanted to

hear. I'm recovering from the flu; my son just got over it and I guess

I'm not thinking clearly.

Someone very recently posted some really encouraging numbers about

her older child's correction. The CT site has a study, with pictures,

of treatment in the older child; this study is the first bit of

encouragement I obtained when we first started down this road.

This group has been a wonderful resource and source of support for

me. I'm sorry I let my response to a new member drift into pessimism.

, Conor's mom