Channing Update!

Dusty, Paxtin, Channing, and I traveled up to Provo on Tuesday for Channing's doctor appointment with the Craniofacial Plastic Surgeon on Wednesday. The twins did great in the Jeep for that long of a drive. The longest they have ever been in a vehicle is the 1-1.5 hour drive to Fredonia, so going to Provo was a new adventure for them. As soon as we got to the hotel, they loved being able to stretch, crawl, roll, and tour the hotel room and finally be out of their car seats.

Today, April 9, 2014, we went to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center for Channing's appointment. We left our hotel at 10:30, his appointment was at 11:00, and it took us 2 minutes to get to the hospital. After we got parked and inside the hospital we asked for directions to Cardiac department. They gave me completely wrong directions on the phone when I first made the appointment. We asked several different people for directions, and circled the entire hospital grounds and still couldn't find the office. It was 11:05 when we finally found our way to the office, but we made it.

The doctor came in and went over a lot of history on Channing. Yes, he is a twin, he was "Twin B". Yes, he was born vaginally. Yes, he has a "strawberry" on his forehead. Yes, he has a clogged tear duct. Yes, he has acid reflux. Then it got to the more critical part. We did an overview of what's been going on. "Channing has been going to physical therapy since he was 2 months old for torticollis. He is over the torticollis and has full range of his head. He still goes to therapy and recently the therapist recommended we see an Orthosis (helmet doctor) for a second opinion. The Orthosis recommended we come here due to the ridge on his forehead being concerning."

After the doctor did some head measurements and looked at a few picture of Channing from the past, he told us that his metopic suture had indeed fused early and has what's called Metopic Synostosis. He told us that if we had brought him in at 2-3 months old he would have done surgery to open it back up but that the surgery is very risky and requires hospitalization for 3-4 days afterwards. He told us generally the metopic suture fuses around 6-12 months anyway, so the age he is now, it would be working on fusing together. The problem about it fusing early is the brain tries to grow, but doesn't have the room needed to grow due to the head being fused. So the next concern is, is there too much pressure on the brain due to the early fusing. After checking his softspot, he didn't feel any pressure (which was a great sign).



Normal Head

Metopic Synostosis













The doctor told us, "if it were my kid, I would NOT do surgery and I would definitely NOT do a helmet". A helmet may help the back of his head round out but it would put pressure on the front of his head were he does NOT need it. So NO surgery and NO helmet...I felt a huge burden lifted. Our prayers had been answered. He said he seems to be developing how he should and there seems to be no issues. The doctor recommended we see him in about 6 months when he comes to St. George (He comes here once every few months) for a follow-up to make sure everything is still ok.  

Thank you so much for you love, care, concerns, and especially prayers. Our prayers were answered today and we are so happy that our precious little Chan Man doesn't have to undergo surgery or doesn't have to have a helmet. We love you all!




Chan Man at the doctor