We knew when Oliver was pretty young that his (not so) little noggin' didn't look right. We brought it up to our pediatrician at their 2 month appointment. She said she noticed a flat spot but didn't think it looked too bad. By his 4 month appointment, we were still pretty concerned so we had her look at it again. She agreed we probably needed some intervention, so she referred us to Dr. Jiang, a plastic surgeon at Children's Mercy.
We saw him the day after Thanksgiving. He looked at his head for about 5 seconds and said, "He's going to need a helmet." It was what we were expecting to hear, so we immediately made an appointment with Hanger clinic.
James and I took all three boys in on December 3rd to see Drew the orthotist at Hanger. He took measurements and did a 3D scan of Oliver's head. They had to put a stretchy white stocking type thing over his head while they scanned him. He didn't exactly love it but he sure looked cute! They sent the scans to the helmet manufacturer which then built the helmet.
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| Drew fitting the little cap over his head so he could be scanned |
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| Not a huge fan... |
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| Those cheeks! |
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| Lucas and Nolan were both on their best behavior |
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| The Insignia scanner - this thing was really cool |
We were given a variety of choices for color and design for the helmet. We, of course, picked a solid purple that we would later decorate with K-State decals.
On December 17th, Ollie's helmet was ready! So the 5 of us ventured back to Hanger to have him sized for it. The appointment was a long one. Oliver would have to try the helmet on, then Drew would make markings on it and then go shave off the parts that didn't fit quite right. We were there for nearly 3 hours.
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| Waiting for Drew to show us his new helmet! |
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| The little boys did NOT sleep during this appointment... |
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| "Hey, what are you doing to me?!?" |
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| "Get it off!" |
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| Chillin' with Daddy while Drew made adjustments |
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| Worn out |
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| "Maybe this isn't so bad..." |
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| "In fact, I look like a real football player now!" |
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| All done! |
When we came home with the helmet, we were on a schedule to ease into the wearing process. So in the beginning, he'd have it on for an hour then off for an hour all day. The next day, he'd wear for 2 hours and take it off for one. Each day, he'd wear it for longer and longer until the end of the week when he was wearing it for a full 23 hours a day. I was a little worried about this adjustment period, but Ollie didn't seem to mind it one bit. He'd sometimes cry for a few seconds as we were putting the helmet on, but then he'd quickly get over it. It never affected his sleeping either, which I was a little concerned about.
We went back to see Drew every two weeks to have adjustments made to the helmet, since his head was constantly growing. Every time we went in, Drew was always really impressed with the progress he made.
On Valentine's Day, we went in and in addition to taking measurements like they do every time, they also rescanned him. Drew's jaw literally dropped. In the short two months Ollie had worn the helmet, he had gone from 24 mm of asymmetry to 6 mm. This is a huge improvement and Drew said it's the quickest he's ever had a patient respond.
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| The initial scan on the left and a current one on the right. AMAZING! |
So now we have another appointment on March 7th (a week from this Friday). If he continues to improve like he's been, we may be done with it! I can't believe we're nearing the end all ready. They originally told use he would probably have to wear it 3-6 months. It's possible he'll have it off before the 3 month mark, which is just so exciting! Go Ollie!!!
And now a couple pictures of Ollie looking at cute as can be his helmet:
