So we went to Dr Graham last week at Cedars Sinai-he's the craniofacial specialist I've been waiting 2 months to see. Since Bromberg said at 4.5 months that Ava didn't need a helmet I just wanted to get a second opinion from somebody who knows what he's talking about. Anyways, Grandma, Ava and I drove down there last Wednesday and to be honest from what everybody has been telling me I really thought I was wasting all of our time. Even the nurse that checked us in was like "why are you here, for her head??? It looks good to me"
Anyways, we got in to Dr. Graham's office and he started to measure Ava's head. She wasn't thrilled about it but I appreciated that he was actually measuring her rather than "eyeballing" it like Bromberg. After taking many measurements, he said that Ava has "severe" torticollis and that she DOES need the helmet. He said that we need to kick up the stretching to 6-8 times a day daily and keep doing PT once a week for the next 4-6 months. He said that the there is transitional tissue that is tight in Ava's neck and that if I stretch it enough it will transition to muscles; if not it will turn to scar tissue which would have to be surgically removed.
Needless to say, my heart immediately dropped. I feel disappointed that I apparently haven't been doing enough and also really sad that my poor sweetheart has to wear a helmet :( I'm nervous about what people will say and how Ava will react to it. Summer is coming and I hope it's not too hot for her and I hope she can sleep comfortably with it. It's not even on yet and I can't wait til we can get rid of it!
I immediately made an appointment for Cranial Technologies in Pasadena. It's not the closest place, but it's the BEST. John and I are going on Monday so I'll have more to post then.
I've been constantly on the computer looking things up to make me feel better about of situation. Now I'm really worried because even though the helmet will correct her head shape, it does nothing for the tilt. Right now I feel hopeless. I keep on stretching her but every minute of it is hard on both of us. I'm happy I followed my intuition but I definitely doesn't feel good to know that I was right.
