Emmett's Helmet

I have put off this post for a long time now, because I have not been happy with the situation.  I was afraid that I would write a post while frustrated and the later regret that tone of the post.  Well 2 months in and I seem to be getting more frustrated each time that I have to deal with the clinic.
 
This is not our first time having a child in a helmet.  To read about Josiah's helmet click here, update on it click here, another update click here, 4 month update click here and helmet removal click here.  We had such a great experience with Josiah's that I thought I was just classifying different as not as good, but the longer we are in the process I feel that is not the case. 

Emmett getting his head scanned

When I went to Emmett's 9 month check up the dr recommended that we go get his head checked to see if he needed a helmet for Plagiocephaly, or flattening of skull.  We had been through this with Josiah and were hoping to go back to Arkansas Children's Hospital, but were referred to a Hanger Clinic here in Springdale.  I was mad at myself for not pushing the helmet issue earlier (the PT had said that she thought it was looking better and I thought I was just being paranoid mom) and was afraid that the time it would take to get seen by someone there would push us past the window to benefit from the helmet (usually you see the best result around 6 months and we were already at 9 months).  BIG MISTAKE.  Thankfully his head is no where near as bad as Josiah's was.

He was not happy wearing the cap to scan it

Ok enough of that rant.  On to the helmet process. We went in and they measured his head with calipers and measuring tapes and determined that his head measured a 9 and a helmet is recommended at a 6.  We were reluctant to go with the helmet because his head did not look that bad, but ultimately decided to go ahead with it because we could do something about it now and were afraid that we might regret it later if we didn't.  So we had to come back in later that week and get his head scanned by a laser.  The laser scan is used to make a helmet custom fit to Emmett's head.  It took several attempts to get the head scanned but we finally got it. 

After the scans were sent in, we had to come back in the following week to pick up the helmet.  We had a slow break-in period and he started wearing it 23 hours a day.  We immediately noticed that the fit was not quite right.  The helmet would shift and twist around on his head.  It would twist around and cover up one ear and push the other one forward.  It really looked like it was too big.  We I question it being too big, I was told that because his head had grown 4mm (yes 4 tiny millimeters) that that is what is causing it to move and shift around.  That makes absolutely no sense to me because if his head grew that should make it fit tighter not looser. 

Josiah and Elaina trying not to get bored

They did make a few adjustments, but nothing seemed to help.  It actually seemed that everything they did made it worse.  Finally it got to the point were Emmett could grab the piece that touched his cheek and shove it upward and yank the helmet off.  The worst was when he would only get it half way off his head and it would get stuck and squeeze his head.  Of course this happened on the weekend so I had to wait till Monday to call.  When I call I am told that the technician that we see is to busy to see us.  I complain enough that I finally get to leave her a message on her voicemail.  When we calls me back she says that they are going to rescan him and get him a new helmet since his head grew in between fitting and delivery just enough to make it not fit.  Again it is too big because he grew!

Elaina helping to entertain Emmett at one of the helmet visits

Well we go back in a couple of days later and get rescanned for a new helmet.  There were delays in delivery and they were nice enough to call Trey and reschedule twice before I go in to get it.  For that I am truly thankful.  So we went in yesterday and got his new helmet.  It still shifts some and seems a lot looser than Josiah's did, but maybe this one is one of the passive style ones and Josiah's was more of an active one.  Hopefully we can get this one to work with a few adjustments.  I have noticed a few red spots that I think are going to have to be addressed.  The red spots indicate the helmet is putting too much pressure or are rubbing on an area. 

Throwing a ball at me

We are now about 2 month into this process and have not been giving in updates on his progress.  We have told or shown nothing that gives us any indication of his progress.  We got monthly updates with Josiah.  Maybe I would feel better if I could get some sort of progress update.

The latest issue we are having with them is the bill we received last week.  We were told upfront what the cost would be and since we hadn't met our deductible that we would have to pay it up front.  (This is part of the reason that I was mad that this wasn't done last year when our deductible was already met.)  We paid the bill and thought that we were done, and then we get a bill saying that we owe over $600 more.  Naturally the person that handles the billing wasn't in the office yesterday while I was there. The lady that does the billing called Trey this morning (not sure why they call Trey every time when I am the one that talks with them the most).  I hate that he had to deal with that while he was at work, but am glad that I didn't have to deal with it.  it would have really put me in a bad mood.  When Trey asked about the bill she told him that is what insurance would allow so we owed it.  Trey asked what we would have paid if we had not had insurance and the lady wouldn't answer his question. Trey asked her why we were being penalized for having insurance because if we didn't have it we would have only paid the original amount and not this extra $600. She then told him that we had to pay the extra because if not then it would be like they were paying part of our deductible.  I just don't understand this at all. It doesn't seem right that I should have to pay that much more just because I have insurance. 

A little happier yesterday at the visit because he could walk around while waiting

This whole experience has made me almost regret getting the helmet in the first place.  I think that his head will end up looking better after it is all over, but I am not 100% convinced.  The only saving grace in the whole deal is that I don't think that it will actually make things worse.  If we were going through all this at 6 months instead of 11 months I really think that I would be requesting that my doctor send us to ACH and just forget leave this company and start all over.   While we won't be going through this again I am making sure that I let everyone know that if their baby needs a helmet that I would advise against getting it from Hanger and if anywhere near the state of Arkansas I would recommend going to Arkansas Children's Hospital.