one year later…

It’s been a year since Caiden’s surgery, and we were due for our first yearly team visit. But first up, a CT scan. Unfortunately he had to be placed under anesthesia due to his age and inability to stay still during the scan. Once again, I had to hand my baby off to a medical team and leave the room. Not an easy thing to do.

The scan did not take long, and we were reunited in recovery. I kissed his forehead and he immediately woke up. He needed to eat and drink before being released, and he was ready for it. But he was awfully giggly and trying to share his “wawa” (water) with everyone. I commented that he seemed drunk, but Chris was just convinced he was just in a good mood. Or he was until I put Caid down to walk, and he immediately staggered around and fell on his tush. Drunk baby confirmed.

Today we got the results of the scan. Amazing to see the difference.

 This shows the ratio differences. He was at a 63% difference between front to back and left to right. Now he’s at 74.4%. Dr. Patel measured both Chris and I for comparison, and we were both just under 75%, so he is right in line with the two of us. We also got comparisons of all the different sides.

Front

Back

Left

The side views show a big difference in his forehead area. Doctors used to adjust the bone surgically in that area, but later discovered that wearing the helmet will move the forehead back without needing other correction. That keeps the bone smooth in such a visible area of the head.

Right

Top

You can see how the bone is starting to fill in on the top. His skull has already filled in a lot in the back, as shown in this scan. Since they had to remove so much, and they asked his head shape to change drastically, it may not completely fill in until age 5. It will also smooth out over time (right now it's pretty bumpy). If it does not fill in, a surgery will be required to correct it. The doctors are optimistic that will not be necessary – it’s only happened in one of their cases.

We met with several other specialties, all of whom were happy with his development. Hearing, vision, language, social and motor skills are all on track. And we kept Caiden happy between specialist visits with the old standby – Cheerios.

Overall the appointment went very smoothly. Every staff member we talk to at Children’s is amazing. We could not be happier with the results and care Caiden has received throughout this process. But I’m also thankful we don’t have to go back for a year. :)