I'm Just A Mom

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.