New Adventures

This photo looks awful, truly he's not upset he was just surprised by the flash of the techs camera. The orthosist Phil from SPOT said he was one of the best kids he's cast, so calm and sweet. Sam is now taking on a new adventure in his life, he was diagnosed with Brachycephaly. He was cast for a cranial remolding orthoses. We noticed around 8 weeks that he was favoring his left side and put him in physical therapy. We learned he had torticollis which is a shortened muscle in his neck that causes weakness. Because he was 4 weeks early his skull was a bit soft and the torticollis has hindered his sleep position which has caused a bit of flattening. His brachycephaly will be treated with a helmet for a couple of months. We picked out a really neat fireman pattern for his helmet and we think he'll adjust nicely.

It's hard as parents to have to put your child through something like this, there are feelings of guilt and frustration because you feel you should have been more informed or educated about these types of situations. There truly is very little collaboration between pediatricians, cranial facial specialists and physical therapists. You would be surprised at how many helmet wearing kids there are, but all the heartache you feel and lack of information could be squashed by just a little bit of awareness. Yes people stare at Sam, they assume you've done something to cause it or that you're a lazy parent that lets your child sleep on his back all the time. Everyone always has advice and snide remarks, and we learn to adapt. The wonderful thing that comes out of this whole experience is that he's received so much positive attention from the right people, his physicians and therapists and well as special time with Mommy each day for exercises. Physical therapy has been a great benefit, Sam's muscles have been strengthened, his motor skills improved and he's ahead of schedule. This little innocent child has some really wonderful people who love him very much and they let it show daily which is the most important part. Despite having to wear a helmet and get some stares.