Re: My letter to MSNBC pediatrician (long)

[Guest guest]

Very well written letter.

On behalf of all the moms with Plagio babies I would like to thank you for

taking the time to write such a letter....Thank you.

Good luck!

Amy(Max's mom)

[Guest guest]

Good job, !

Kendra in CanadaFor more plagio info, visitwww.plagiocephaly.org/support...

----- Original Message -----

From: pettice@...

Plagiocephaly

Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 3:00 PM

Subject: My letter to MSNBC pediatrician (long)

Hi. I wrote a while back about an article I read on MSNBC's web site about newborns in which the doctor, MSNBC's pediatrics columnist anda colleague of my former pediatrician, referred to the flatteningcaused by back sleeping as harmless and temporary. Well, I finally gotaround to writing to him and I thought you might like to read the e-mail I sent. I'll let you know if I ever hear from him., Conor's mom, central PA----Text of the e-mail I sent to Dr. Mark Widome, Dept. of Pediatrics, Penn State University at the Milton Hershey Medical Center:Dr. Mark Widome,I am the mother of a 17-month-old child who is in the last weeks ofhelmet therapy for plagiocephaly. I read with interest your comments,transcripted on MSNBC's Web site, entitled "Questions New Parents Always Ask." I was dismayed, however, by your comments regarding thepossibility that back-sleeping may cause flattening of the back of thehead.The words you used were "harmless" and "temporary." I am encouraged bythe studies that show no cognitive impairment in children withplagiocephaly not caused by synostosis. I know that, for some babies,the flattening is fortunately temporary. And I thank you for mentioning the importance of "tummy time" for back-sleeping infants, and for reiterating the importance of back sleeping. But I'mconcerned that the parents of children with plagiocephaly are not getting complete information about the available treatments for cases of plagiocephaly that will not improve without aggressive repositioning or helmet therapy begun at an appropriately young age.I understand that there are differences of opinion among pediatriciansand other specialists concerning the necessity of treatment; mypediatrician is a colleague of yours and somewhat reluctantly sent us to Dr. Kanev after listening to me complain about my son's head shape for 12 months. (My son's plagiocephaly was probably caused, we were told, by intrauterine pressure and/or a difficult labor.) Dr. Kanev told me that I should have brought my son in when he was 6 months old. My son began helmet therapy at 13.5 months and, while we have seen some improvement, I will always be sorry that we weren't encouraged to reposition our son or to seek Dr. Kanev's help earlier. I respect the process by which you've formed your opinions regarding the diagnosis and treatment of plagiocephaly, but if you agree that there are a small number of children whose parents need to know aboutrepositioning and helmet therapy, please consider using the forum youhave at MSNBC to educate these parents. Thank you very much for your time.

[Guest guest]

That was an excellent letter - good job!

Marci (Mom to )

Oklahoma