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We got to our appointment early on April 07, 2003 at Dallas Cranofacial Center to see a specialist. We had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly surprised by how nice and helpful everyone was. After taking "before" photos, we were led into a room to wait for the specialist. It wasn't long before Trish Williamson the nurse practioner walked in asking us "Do you know your daughter has Torticollis?" I think she saw the stunned look on our faces and slowly began to explain to us what that meant. She then began explaining what Plagiocephaly was and told us Kathryn had a combination of Plagiocephaly and Brachycephaly, she also informed us that the information the pedatrician had given us about the band was completely wrong!
After explaining all about how plagio, brachy and tort can affect infants if not treated and what causes it, she began to explain how the bands work. We knew there was no need for discussion on whether we would be banding Kathryn, we were prepared to do whatever it took for our baby girl! Before we left Trish showed us how to do Physical Therapy exercises at home for Kathryn's torticollis. We were then sent over to Children's Medical Center for X-rays to rule out any other abnormalities. We left Dallas scared about the future for our daughter and furious over the way her now FORMER doctor had delayed her treatment by not diagnosing her sooner.
After getting home the guilt set in. Had we caused this? Were we bad parents because we had not sought a second opinion? After visiting all the web sites on the list given to us by Trish, I had my answers...No we were not to blame for this, no parent is.
We received the call from Cranial Technologies within a week and Kathy from the insurance division went to work on getting the approval for Kathryn's band. We set up our casting appointment for April 19, 2004.
Casting day came and we were nervous. Wendy, the therapist who was going to do the casting, was so nice. She explained everything. The proccess wasn't pleasant, but it was bearable. It only took about 12 minutes and then we bathed Kathryn and took her home. We were told her band would be ready within 2 weeks.
Kathryn received her band on May 03, 2004. The fit was great and even though I had anticipated the worst, Kathryn never even cried! She felt of the band a few times and then went about her business. Unfortunatly the good times were short lived, within a week we were back at CT. Kathryn had developed a spot that would not fade, it turned out to be a small heat rash, that with a little hydracortisone cream was gone within a few days.
As of June 18,2004 Kathryn has made dramtic improvements and other than that one small rash, she has had no problems. The people at Cranial Tech are awesome. They are always ready to help. No matter how many questions I have (and I have a lot!!) they always have or find the answers. Banding our daughter has been the best decision we could have made.
We have now made it a personal mission to educate other parents about Plagio and Tort, and to make sure others are better informed than we were. We are also dedicated to raising awareness on the importance of "Tummy Time. We are happy to answer the questions many people have when they see Kathryn in her DOC band.
Kathryn graduated from her band on July 23, 2004. Read her journal for the Graduation post. We continue to work on her Torticollis everyday and I will say as of today it is much easier to do without having to take the band off and put it back on. Good Luck to all on this wonderful, scary, amazing and well worth it in every sense, journey to roundness.
**MAKE SURE TO SIGN MY GUESTBOOK!!!**
*** Feel Free To Visit Kathryn's Original "Birth Page" by cutting and pasting the link below:
www,babiesonline.com/babies/k/kathryn2003
**FOR PICTURES OF THE CASTING PROCESS GO TO "MY 2ND ALBUM" BELOW.**
***CHECK BACK OFTEN FOR UPDATES ON HOW WELL I AM DOING.***
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