Geeze....I Must Have Slept On My Neck Wrong!

Jacob has Infant Congenital Torticollis. Torticollis is:

“…a condition which affects the sternocleidomastoid muscle which connects the base of the skull to the collar bone. This muscle is the main muscle that is used to move the head from side to side. In an infant with Torticollis, the muscle is shorter on the side that the head is tilted to. With treatment, the muscle will grow and stretch; but if left untreated the condition may cause a permanent limitation of the infant's neck movement. If action is not taken, the infant's head may flatten on one side and the face may become mis-formed.”

The most common theory as to the cause of torticollis in infants is due to limited space and movement in the womb, or a traumatic birth. Jacob’s head, as you can see in pictures, is tilted to the right side. He literally has a crick in his neck! Jacob does have a slight flattening of the head on his right side and in x-rays, it appears that Jacob’s right jaw is growing slower than his left. This is due to his Right Side Torticollis. Just for the record, although Jacob was not pleased about having to get x-rays and an ultrasound of his neck...he was such a champ!!

Congenital Torticollis is not a permanent condition and can be treated. In mild cases, it can be treated with daily stretches in the home, and in more moderate cases, intense PT. In more serious conditions (which we do not believe Jacob has), surgery is required. Jacob is not in any pain from this condition….except when we do his stretches…he is not a fan of the stretches...unless he's sleeping, and then he doesn't seem to notice! But when he's not sleeping....Watch out!

Since Jacob was born, we, with the guidance of our pediatrician, have been trying to help him stretch and turn his neck the opposite way to look at us or toys, as well as to eat. At Jacob’s six month mark, we did not see any improvement, so we worked with the Physical Therapist here on Misawa Air Base. Unfortunately the Physical Therapists here are not experts in pediatric physical therapy, and it became clear that Jacob was going to need more attention.

So, that’s where we are now. Jacob is being Med Evac-ed (sounds fancy, doesn’t it) out of Misawa and back to the US to get the proper care and treatment he needs. Jacob and I will be staying in Columbus, Ohio with my parents and working with the PT Team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Our pediatrician thinks that it will take 2-3 months of therapy and treatment to correct the condition. We are working very hard to get the paperwork, referrals, and scheduling complete so we can get to the States as soon as possible. (Although we will miss the most beautiful time of year in Japan....Cherry Blossoms!!!)
Unfortunately, Jason will not be able to join Jacob and I for this adventure. We will miss him and I know he is going to miss Jacob terribly. Good news is that we had already planned to come back to the States in May for a conference and my sister’s wedding, so Jason will get to see Jacob for the month of May, which will help break up the separation. We hope to have Jacob in tip-top shape to make it back to Japan to be home for Jacob’s 1st Birthday.

We should know early next week when we will be traveling. I will of course leave all the info in another post as soon as we know. We will keep you updated with Jacob’s progress and maybe we will get to see some of you while we are in the States!

For more information, you can search Infant Torticollis or check out:

http://www.peacehealth.org/kbase/topic/special/tp22216spec/sec1.htm

Hipity Hopity

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to All! Although 8 months is a bit young to fully enjoy the concept of an Easter Egg hunt, Jacob took part and enjoyed many of the other Easter Traditions.

We have been basking in the warm weather and enjoying the first signs of Spring. The past couple weeks in Misawa have been beautiful...lots of sun and high 40 and 50 degree days. The snow is gone (except for a small patch here or there), the grass is getting greener and, the Spring flowers are poking through the ground. In the next couple weeks, our front gardens will be taken over by tulips!

Jason and I always enjoy coloring Easter Eggs. In Dayton, our wonderful friend Pierce would join us in decorating our eggs. We certainly missed his help and insightful decorating skills this year. We thought we'd give Jacob a glimpse of what the future holds for him, so last night Jacob had his first Easter Egg Dyeing Experience! He was fascinated by the entire event, and was a huge help (i.e. he did NOT knock over the bowls full of dye).

Sunday morning we got dressed in our Sunday best and took a short walk to the Base Chapel to attend one of the many Easter Sunday Services. After church, we hurried back home to pop the ham in the oven and check out what neat things the Easter Bunny left for Jacob in his basket. Jacob was surprised to see a small stuffed chick and bunny, some bubbles, an IU storybook (it thankfully did not mention our short 2008 NCAA Tourney appearance) , and a couple small new toys. Oddly enough, Jacob was more enamored with the plastic eggs than anything else. =)

We had our pals Kourt, Missy and Kelly over for ham, potato salad and such, and enjoyed the warm weather. Jacob was so happy to see Mis....and her big hoop earrings! Mis almost lost her ear lobe to Jacob's strong grip and curiosity. Jacob was so exhausted after all of the Easter excitement that he is snoozing peacefully in a little nap.

Hope Everyone has a Happy Easter like we did!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

May the Luck of the Irish be with you!

Spring is Coming!

Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay between posts. Hope you have your volume up and enjoy the new music we've added to our blog.

We've been busy little bees here in Misawa the past month.

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It's been in the 40's and low 50's the past couple weeks, and we may have to say goodbye to the skiing season. We had quite a bit of snow this year; Misawa had 50 inches in the month of February alone! I'll give you all a total snow tally for the winter when I can find it. All in all, the winter wasn't as bad as we were expecting. It never got bitter cold like we've endured in the Midwest for most of our lives. In addition, the snow volume was only crippling a couple times. We have explored about 4 or 5 of the mountains in the area and found plenty of great skiing.

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In February, we visited Okunakayama Kogen Resort with some friends, Jason went to Moya Hills with Kourt, and last weekend we went down to Shimakura Hachimantai Resort by ourselves. We had some beautiful views of Mt. Iwate, a semi active volcano, and relaxed in older, quaint sulfur based onsen in the Hachimantai mountains. We hope to do more skiing next year (and maybe get Jacob on a pair), but now we're ready for the Cherry Blossoms to start blooming!

Since the weather has cleared up, we have enjoyed the fresh air by taking walks outside again. Jacob still loves the Baby Bjorn, but has also tried out the 'Big Boy' stroller which he enjoys too. It's been so sunny that we've broken out the baby sunglasses. Doesn't he look like a little movie star?

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We also took a drive up the shore of Lake Ogawara, which is the second largest inland lake on Honshu Island. It is only a stone's throw away and actually borders the north part of Misawa Air Base. This summer, while we will desperately miss the lazy weekends on our boat at Lake Norris, Tennessee, we are gearing up to get our boat licenses here in Misawa. We look forward to the hot July days where we can rent a boat, throw on some water skis, and enjoy Lake Ogawara.

Jacob is sweeter every day. He's almost 8 months now!! Or, to be technical, 7 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days....according to our new ticker! Amazing! We still

can't believe he's ours. We enjoy his expanding vocabulary of babbles, his expressions while playing with other babies at play groups, his face as he discovers new things and foods, and the list goes on and on.

On a more serious note, Jacob was officially diagnosed with Congenital Infant Torticollis at his 6 month appointment. I don't want to get into the specifics as I plan to post another more in depth blog this week regarding this condition. Basically, torticollis is a tilting of the head due to muscles in the neck on one side

being shorter and tighter than the other side. Usually this tightening resolves on its own the first few months of life. Once Jacob hit the 6 months of age, we knew it wasn't going to get better on it's own. We worked with the Physical Therapy Department here on Base and we have been doing daily stretches at home for the past month. On a side note, Jacob detests these stretches!! Unfortunately the condition has not improved.

Currently our Pediatrician has put in a Consult Request to the Pediatric Physical Therapy and Neurologist Team at the hospital at Tripler Army Base, Hawaii to get more direction. There is a possibility that Jacob and I will be heading to Hawaii in the next few weeks for an evaluation. We should know more next week, and at that point I will post another blog. This condition is not permanent. Most cases are not severe and resolved with an intense regiment of PT. In more severe cases, surgery is required, but we are hoping that will not be the case for our Sweet Little Man.

That's about all for now. Jacob wishes you all a Happy St. Patty's Day and upcoming Easter! Take care.