My Lil' Chan Man

As most of you know Channing has been going to physical therapy since he was about 2 months old. He had torticollis, that is where one side of his head and his neck didn't have the strength and the mobility to move and lift his head. He has successfully gotten over the torticollis and has full range of his head and can move it all over without tightness and pain, but still tends to favor the right side, causing a flat spot to be persistent. They measure his head at every appointment and he has always measured a 9, 10+ is measurements for the need of a helmet, but he was always under 10 so we have continued to work with him in hopes of avoiding a helmet. The end of February we got good news that Channing no longer needed to go to therapy every 1-2 weeks, but he could come 3-4 weeks cause his number was now a 2! So we waited, he started rolling all over and I was so happy to finally see him picking up on rolling. He has seemed further behind Paxtin, Paxtin is now crawling and pulling himself up, where Channing just started rolling over.

When I took him to therapy last week, I was excited for the therapist to see Channing sitting up so well and rolling all over. But the excitement didn't last. As Channing's flat spot seemed to look more prominent, I asked the therapist about it. He measured his head and he was back to a 9! I was crushed. He went from a 2 to a 9 in 3 weeks. I wanted to just cry right there cause I knew that he was doing so well, improving in so many ways, and then that news was not at all what I expected.

The therapist then called a specialist to get a 2nd opinion on Chan's case. The specialist, who is out of Salt Lake, wanted to see Channing for an evaluation. Fortunately, he comes to St. George once a week so we were able to see him here instead of having to travel up north.

That brings us to now.....

I took Channing in this morning and the specialist measured his head in all sorts of angles. He first measured him at a 7, which was a relief, but as he got looking more at his head, he decided to measure again. Taking measurement on an almost 9 month old is not the easiest when he squirms and hates it. But the second time he measured he got him at a 12. :-( My heart dropped! I know a helmet is not the worst thing and many kids have to have them, but I think what's so upsetting is he was doing so well and now all of a sudden he's not.

Channing has also had a ridge on his forehead. Dusty and I have been concerned about it for a long time and we've asked our doctor about it and he wasn't concerned. The specialist today was concerned about it. He thinks Channing needs to see a Craniofacial Plastic Surgeon to get a evaluation to make sure his head has not fused early. Fusing early can cause multiple problems, especially as his brain continues to grow. He said if it has fused early, they would have to go in and do surgery to open it back up. My heart is crushed. I don't want my baby to have to go in and get cut on, especially his head. Right now I am waiting to hear from our doctor to see if there is a Craniofacial doctor in town that we can see, if not we will have to go to Primary Children's to get him checked.

My poor little Chan can't catch a break. He's working so hard and doing so well and I swear the past 2 weeks have just snowballed for him. Please keep my baby in your prayers. I hope that his forehead is fine and he doesn't need further treatment on it, and hopefully soon we can look at this and it will all be in the past and my baby will be all better.

I love you Chan Man!! You're a tough little guy!