A New Twist

Great news!  It seems that A's head can be treated non-surgically!

Now for the back story ....

During the holidays last year (that would be Thanksgiving 2013 onward) A's head started looking "longer" and more like she had cranio.  I worried but the holidays were happening.  Then winter happened.  That was a long, wet and cold winter, eh?  And eventually we found ourselves looking at a toddler who just wasn't quite right.  Her right eye drooped sometimes, she lost her balance easily (she was regressing ... yes, I know babies fall often), her sounds/language was slow and she still had that crazy gagging "thing."

(A note on the gag thing ... we visited the ENT and everything is in order physically.  It seems that she has a few issues with her diaphragm--which we'll get to in a minute!)

So, after a few sleepless nights, I returned to the age old question -- "What DO we do with this blessed head?"  Our original neurosurgeon is one of the best but he left me with burning questions that were just unanswered.  The only answer he seemed to be able to give was that surgery fixed this problem, the "whys" shall not be seriously entertained if you won't do surgery!

Enter Dr. Fearon.  Dr. Fearon, director of the Craniofacial Center in Dallas, answered my questions without even having to talk with me!  I highly recommend the deformities section of their website here.  It is superior-ly helpful to sort out just what is going on with all of the different types of cranial (bones of the head) stuff that is going on out there.

Anyhow, the most important information from Dr. Fearon is that single suture fusing seems to be largely caused by environmental factors.  That would mean the baby gets stuck in the womb a certain way and the pressure causes the suture to close prematurely.  A was stuck in my pelvis for about five months.  First, ouch and second, I told you so! every chiropractor and midwife I asked.  Though it's just my mommy instinct, I would definitely guess A's cranio is due to the pressure from my pelvis (poor girl!).

After reading all of that information and contacting Dr. Fearon, I got in touch with a cranio sacral therapist I had originally spoken with before A's diagnosis, Dr. Phillips, in Annapolis.  Dr. Phillips usually has a three month waiting list, but she just happened to have a cancellation that week (isn't that always the way we roll!) and the girls and I drove the two hours for the appointment.

I recounted A's womb position and Dr. Phillips reported that her body structure seemed to be off.  Furthermore, her craniosynostosis might just be an issue with her being stuck in the womb and was likely treatable non-surgically.  Though I tried to focus on what she was saying, that was such a relief, that honestly, I missed a lot of details.  It seems though, that when a child get stuck in their mother's pelvis, first, the head gets pinched but secondly, the body get twisted and can torque the diaphragm (and other muscles).  The diaphragm wraps around the body and the muscle fibers connect into the trapezius muscles which stretch up throughout the occiput (which is in the back of the hear near the brain stem) and become the mucles fiber covering the brain (called the dura).

Long story short, she head was pinched in utero, which caused the fusing but on top of that, her body grew incorrectly, due to the pinching, so now her diaphragm is pulling on her brain and causing head head shape to be worse.

Good news though!  Dr. Phillips has treated cranio before and is optimistic for A!  Now, we'll just have to get some of the details straightened out and start treatment (which won't be until July because Dr. Phillip is mega-booked).