I find myself saying that phrase
more and more in recent weeks. I’m just
a mom; it’s strange that when I say those words now, they have a different
meaning.
My name is Susan Reynolds and I’m
just a mom. I am Ian’s mom, and I am
trying to make a difference in preventative pediatric care for military
children. My son serves as my
inspiration and my husband is my support.
Ian Thomas Reynolds was born on
August 12, 2010. He came almost four
weeks early and was tiny, but healthy.
Ian wasn’t early enough for our doctor to be overly concerned, but he
and the staff were cautious. The
hospital staff practiced what I like to call “preventative care”. Ian was placed under warmers, swaddled, feed
frequently, snuggled, and given a chance to keep his birth weight. The entire purpose of our OB team was to
ensure that Ian came home with me. He
did. As I reflect on that time, I had no
idea the precedent the staff was establishing in my life as a new mom.
As always the first few weeks with
a newborn are interesting, and as typical military life goes, we were
moving. It was in the weeks before my
family moved that Ian developed a flat spot on one side of his head, or
Plagiocephaly. With the impending move,
there wasn’t much the former pediatrician could do. The weekend before Halloween, my husband and
I packed up two cars, a newborn, cat, and drove from Nebraska to North
Carolina. What an exhausting trip!
In 1992 the American Academy of
Pediatrics started recommending that newborns should be placed on their backs
to sleep in order to reduce the amount of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or
SIDS. By 1994 a full “Back to Sleep”
campaign was launched. In the past 20
years SIDS deaths have decreased by almost 40%.
Unfortunately, one of the side effects of placing newborns with
malleable skulls on their backs is a flattening of their skulls, or
Plagiocephaly. As a result of this
flattening, infants would require an orthotic device
to remodel their skulls.
Fast forward to April 2011 my
family was hit with what I call, the “trifecta of trouble”. My husband was sent on a rapid deployment, I
was diagnosed with a hernia that needed repair, and our rental home was lost to
the tornadoes in NC. I saved what I
could, moved my family into a hotel, said goodbye to my husband, postponed my
surgery, moved in with my mother, bought a house, took care of my eight month
old infant who was battling ear infections, and began my push for Ian’s
helmet. I knew in my heart that he
wasn’t receiving the best preventative medical treatment and something had to
be done.
Ian was twelve months old by the
time I was able to secure his referral to a pediatric neurologist, and because
we were new patients, it would be another eight weeks before he would be
seen. Ian would be fourteen months old
by the time a helmet was custom made for him.
We had lost so much time due to poor information about Plagiocephaly,
and lack of knowledge on Tricare policy.
We had to pay for his helmet out of pocket as well. I couldn’t believe that Tricare was willing
to send my son to an ENT for tubes, but unwilling to pay for a helmet that
could prevent additional long
term health issues because of his flattened skull. I cannot lie; I cried many tears of
frustration. As my husband reminded me,
we, as parents, do what must be done.
Parents take care of their children not out of obligation or because
being a parent is a job. Parents take
care of their children because children need us too. I did what I have always done; I took care of
my child.
The moment I decided to “take
care of my child” was the moment I promised him and my family that no other
military child and family should go through our experience. Other military families must be going through
something similar, but I wasn’t sure how to find them. I knew it would take time to find these
families, but I couldn’t give up. I
contacted my Senator and Congressman (both serve on the Armed Services
Committee), I was nominated for Air Force Spouse of the Year and re-shaping
helmets was my cause, I formed a support group and named it Cranial Helmets: Re-Shaping Our Children’s Future By Using Our
Heads. For more than seven months I have
not stopped. I am now in the process of
becoming a non-profit so I can help raise awareness, bring about a policy
change, and raise funds to help military families.
Ian graduated from his helmet on
his eighteen month birthday. His head is
not perfectly round, but his ears aligned and the ear infections cease to be a
problem. Ian is a happy, loving,
wonderful child. I work with him on his
alphabet, and play until we fall over with laughter and exhaustion. There are days I wonder, “Did I do
enough?” I think that will always be a
question that plagues my heart and mind.
I don’t know if I can answer that question and I’m not sure if I will
ever be able to. All I know is that I
want my son’s experience to be a learning experience for others.
Tricare is a great insurance, but
it’s not perfect. The gaps in
preventative pediatric care are an issue that needs to be addressed. Military families endure more than most and
the last thing my family or any military family needs to worry about is how to
pay for their child’s healthcare. So here I am, Susan Reynolds, trying to stand
up to Tricare and advocate for pediatric healthcare for military children…I’m still
just a mom.
