Looking back...

Looking back on his helmet we get asked a lot about peoples reaction, how he handled it, etc. And the truth is there was no trauma at all. He noticed the band the first time they put it on, when he was 9 months old, he grabbed for it but did not cry. He was easily distracted by toys and forgot it was even there. The 1st time he had to sleep in it was in the car, it took a few minutes of fussing (which he tends to do anyway) to get comfortable and then he was out. He had no problems getting comfortable that night. By the end of the week if he saw his band off his head he tried to put it back on. So for those that think it may be traumatizing, does that sound traumatizing? Despite his sensitive skin he had no additional problems with the band either. Yes we got looks and questions, we were very lucky though and did not get negative comments at all. However I also did not care what people I didn't know, and would probably never see again, thought anyway. And even if I did, my son is the most important thing.

So here are some of the special pics to look back on, to see he is quite happy with his band.

Joey's update 1½ years post band

Well, when he got his band off his head seemed "lumpy" but I was told that would go away. It was gone before he even got his after pictures and measurements done 1½ wks later. However, he still had some flatness, it was most noticable on top and some ear assymetry which was most noticable from the rear. I debated long and hard requesting a 2nd band even though CT didn't recommend one and everyone thought he looked great. My husband did not feel he needed one though. 7-8 months later though, as he got bigger his head got bigger, it was still there staring at me. Even my husband commented and we debated having his after cast poured and taking him back for measurements. But then his hair started to grow. I am not sure if that is what really did it but things started to look better. I stopped noticing it every time I looked at him. Until he got his 1st haircut on his 2nd birthday, that seemed to accentuate it a bit. But then his hair grew back and even thickened up. Now I don't notice it unless I look specifically for it, I can only find it b/c I know exactly where and how to look. Noone else can tell he ever had it. He can wear glasses, hats, bike helmets, etc without noticing. Even when I cut his hair myself and he ended up with a shorter 1" clipper cut (not quite a crew cut) it wasn't noticable.

On a lighter note though...I really worried about him getting the band beforehand. He had sensitive skin (surprisingly this wasn't any harder to deal with in the band), wasn't that great of a sleeper at the time (no worse in the band), and hated hats. The latter is the funniest b/c he now loves hats, starting post band he became addicted to baseball caps. Not even that long ago he came across his band and tried to put it on. And just yesterday he wore his bike helmet around for at least an hour.