2nd Appt. w/Nuero (Long)

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone! I have not posted in about a month so I will update you

on who we are and where we are in all of this.

My name is Niki and I have 6 1/2 month old twins, Kaylie and Danny,

that have a mild case of plagiocephaly. Last month we went for our

initial appointment with the nuerosurgeoun. He told us to keep with

the repositioning and let them sleep on their bellies as long as

either my husband or I were right there with them. He said that if

we are not happy with the results within that month then he will

write the prescription for the helmet. During that month, my husband

and I agreed that we will do whatever is possible to help our babies.

Well, the month has passed and we had our second appointment with the

nuerosurgeon. First let me state that during this month I have not

seen any improvement, and believe me I was looking for it. As soon

as the doctor walked into the room he said they look much better

already. I was floored! He saw them from the doorway and could see

improvement? I don't think so! He asked if I felt there was

improvement and I told him no. It definitely hasn't gotten worse,

but it hasn't improved. He goes on to tell me (husband was there but

was not participating! Hello? I thought we were in this together!)

that the twins case is so mild (he said that out of a 10, they are a

2 or a 3)that they do not put babies with this round of a head in a

helmet so he won't write us the prescription. I asked him, if

Kaylie's head is so round, then why are her ears misaligned? What if

she ever needs to wear glasses? Will she need things special ordered

because of her ears. His answer was these days opthamologists can do

anything, and how often do we see American women choose glasses over

contacts anyway? He also said that we (meaning husband and I, but

really me since hubby was so quiet) are different than all of his

other patients because we feel that their plagio is worse than it

really is....maybe so, but isn't it my job to do what I can to

improve my children's lifestyles? Eventually, with reasoning and

questions and answers he did write us the prescription because he

does not ever want to go against parents wishes. But he is very

apprehensive of it because there is no proof that it does not change

babies behaviorally. Have any of your nueros shown concern about

behavioral changes? he told us to keep the prescription and think

about it; and if we do decide to go ahead with the helmets, if we

ever think that it is changing their behavioral patterns to stop

using it immediately. I asked him if he has experieced something

like this because he was so persistent about it, he said no but he's

not sure if parents would tell him anyway because it would jeopardize

the babies treatment. Have you heard anything like this before?

Even after this appointment, I still like this nuero. He stated how

he felt about things and I stated how I felt. And he respects me and

my wishes as parent, and I greatly appreciate that.

But now my husband doesn't want to do it. This is what gets me so

angry! He's afraid that if they wear a helmet, it will change their

hair pattern (as in the swirl) I'm sure to him this is a valid

reason, but what about vision problems or jaw problems or even self

esteem problems? So to ease his mind, I am asking all of you...did

your babies hair pattern change during helmet/band therapy?

I want to thank all of you for your support and listening to my

ramblings. I know most of you probably were where I am right now. I

don't really want to put them in helmets, but I don't want to regret

not doing it 15 years down the road. When my babies are older and

they ask why they have a flat head, I want to be able to say I did

everything I could do to change that. I don't want to say,

well...you're heads flat because we were afraid that your hair would

get messed up.

I am so sorry that this is so long. If you got this far, I thank

you . Take care!

~Niki~

Kaylie & Danny

Philadelphia, PA