Jackson's pediatrician diagnosed him with Plagiocephaly & Brachiocephaly about 3 weeks ago. To put it very shortly plagiocephaly is assymetric head growth while brachioceplaly is flattening of the head. The pediatrician wrote Jackson a prescription for the cranial orthoses (fancy name for a helmet) he is wearing in this picture. The helmet is designed to encourage growth in areas that are recessed. The orthotist (helmet specialist) recommended that Jackson wear a helmet for 23 hours a day over the course of 3-5 months. This was all very unexpected for us and we did not want to put Jackson through wearing a helmet unless we were certain he needed it. With that in mind we visited a pediatric neurosurgeon in Atlanta for a third opinion. He concurred with the orthotist and the pediatrician. Our main concern was that the helmet had a low probability for making things worse and that it did not cause Jackson any functional or developmental problems by putting pressure on his brain during this period of rapid growth.
We picked the helmet up today and so far, so good. He sweats like crazy in it, but then again...he sweated like a mad man before ;) The orthotist said we should expect that, especially since he was always sweaty. The helmet is introduced slowly over a course of 5 days and by the 5th day he will be wearing it all 23 hours of the day. After the 5th day he can only have it off to take a bath and for us to clean the helmet.
I have spoken to most of you about Jackson, but I put some links below for you if you are not familiar with these conditions or want to read more about them. I will keep updating the blog with his progress :) I am confident that things will be fine and he will not remember a thing.Thanks to all of our friends and family for all your love and support you have given us!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachycephaly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachycephaly
The last link below is a great video that shows the process that we go through with his helmet and explains a little more about it.
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