E-mail I sent to my family today...

Hi Family,
I just wanted to fill you guys in on Strat's appointment he had with the Cranial Specialist today.  Mom went up with me to the appointment (bless her) to help watch Nora so I could focus on just Stratton.

I was actually very pleased with Dr. Warnock and all his associates.  They were very nice, personable and professional.  After a series of many questions and measurements of every angle of Strat's head, Dr. Warnock confirmed that Strat needs to go ahead and get a correctional helmet.  He explained the reasonings why and it made a lot of sense to me as I've never dealt with anything like this before... I don't even know anyone who has?  I will try to summarize the best I can...

In Stratton's case, he has the flat spot in the back (Braceocephaly) plus it is asymmetrical as one side has a larger bulge where one of his plates is trying to find a place to settle.  Dr. Warnock worries (and automatically get's babies in helmets) when the discrepancies between the two sides is 10mm or more.  He explained this is because when the brain grows and naturally pushes the skull outward, the misshapen skull could cause the brain to grow unevenly and could be a whole different set of issues.  Thus why the helmet goes on without any hesitation in these cases.  He said he would send me home today with no worries if all Strat had was the flattened back (the brain would have no where to grow but out, all is well).  Stratton's asymmetrical discrepancy was at 8mm which means he wasn't at an alarming number, but it was still pretty high and that getting a helmet would secure his healthy skull development.

The good news is that the helmet company/office that we have to go get his fittings, more measurements and follow-up visits is based out of Provo.  Which is great that we don't have to travel North as much for the frequent appointments we have in store for us.  If all goes well with insurance claims, helmet fittings and scheduling, we hope Strat will have his customized helmet on in the next couple of weeks.

Please pray for us that Stratton will adjust quickly to his helmet and that our insurance company will accept our claim as this kind of therapy is VERY expensive.

Love you guys,
Heather