5/19/10

Oh helmeted one



















Well I'm glad that we went to Salt Lake to have this looked at! Turns out that Gage was well on his way to having a permeately mis-shapen head. There are some facts about his head treatment that are really interesting. So apparently if the flat spot is just on the back of the head and is symmetrical then there really isn't a problem. Unfortunately for Gage his flat spot has moved off to the left and is throwing off the symmetry of his head. They measured his head from the front left of his head to the back right and then again from the front right to the back left and there was an 8 mm difference- giving him a score of 8. Above 10 is severe and below five isn't cause for concern so he was in between but still needs a helmet at least a few months. So we left the first appointment and went to the second appointment where they scanned his head for images to make a custom helmet for him. As you can tell he screamed the whole time. Poor kid. If only he knew what was coming! It was really interesting. They placed a sock like fabric on his head and attached a transmitter base to the top as a reference point. They then used something that looked like a price scanner to run up and down his head. He was inconsolable about having to hold his head still. My favorite is that you can see his super chubby cheeks on the digital rendition of his head. What a darling! So we picked out a light blue color for the helmet (sorry to all those camo lovers out there- it was a close second---yeah right) and his helmet will be ready to be fitted next Friday right before Lake Powell. He has to wear it 23 hours a day and I know the poor thing is going to roast at Powell but some day he'll thank us. Looks like Medicaid will probably cover it but chances are also there that we might be getting the $2,000 dollar bill for this one which would be fine. Who knows if he's every going to grow hair so we just can't chance it.Above is a picture example of what his helmet will look like except in light blue. So lucky for Regan and Pete we'll be in Salt Lake every other week for the next 3 months or so before we head to Denver. Expect to see us a lot! I'm just so relieved that we went and did it even though the family doctor said to not worry. The specialist said that we came at the best time cause he still has so much growing to do and once you hit a year the bones in your skull cement together and there really isn't anything you can do to change it. So I think the internet deserves a big hand in this for helping us research what his condition was and what we could do to fix it.

4 comments:

kelleyplus said...

gREAT JOB aNNIE What a good mama!!!

Amanda said...

oh poor little gage, but way to go on the momma instincts. at least it will look cute on him. how many months will he need to have it for? will it be off by the time you guys head to denver? (was that an official announcement by the way?) anyway, call me! love you!

Unknown said...

Poor Gage. You know he is going to turn into a motorcycle man b/c he will strangely feel at ease in a helmet!!

Kyerra said...

So that is what you were talking about when you said you were on your way to SLC for helmet treatment! I didn't have time to ask you about that. That is so great you took the initiative to check things out even thought the doctor said not to worry about it! What is up with that?!?! That has happened several times with us and our doctors. So glad you checked into it! How long does he have to wear it???

We're looking forward to visiting with you guys this week! Love ya!