Sagittal Craniosynostosis

[jsc]

My son Joseph (one month old) was diagnosed today w/ Sagittal Craniosynostosis by Dr. Fearon in Dallas. He determined that he will need surgery when he is about 5 months old. I have been doing research online and came across this website. Joseph is our first son, so not only are we new at parenting but we also don't know much about craniosynostosis. Do any of you know of Dr. Fearon? He seemed like an excellent doctor, but I would like to hear it from patients. Did any of you experience any of the risks/side effects of surgery? How did the surgery affected your baby? Do you guys know about how much this surgery costs? Thanks for your help! We are sooo overwhelmed right now that any info would be greatly appreciated.
JSC

[audra15]

So sorry that you are going through this but this site will give you LOTS of support. Dr. Fearon's people will be here soon. . . they all ♥♥♥LOVE♥♥♥ him. He seems to be one of the top doctors to handle this.
Our daughter had surgery for sagittal at 4 1/2 months but in Philadelphia. I'm not going to lie - it was scary and hard on the parents but she did amazingly well. She was laughing and smiling in ICU on the day after her surgery. Within a couple of weeks she was completely back to her "old self." I don't know about costs since our insurance covered ours but hopefully you will be covered.
Hang in there!

[jsc]

Thank you so much! Yeah hopefully my insurance will cover it...so, everything is back to normal now with your little girl? That is great to hear!

[Sophia's_mom]

Welcome to CK I'm glad you found us! All the parents here who used Dr. Fearon seem to love him. I do not have personal experiance with him, but from what I've heard he seems like a great person and surgeon. My daughter also had Sagittal Cranio and had surgery at 3 1/2 months. She is 13 months now and doing great. It is a scary time, but the kids bounce back so quickly it really is amazing. Take some time to read stories here and look at some pictures so you'll know what to expect. Ask lots of questions, we'll be here to support you any way we can.

[jsc]

Thank you so much for your support!

[fitmomof2ae]

Welcome to CK! I'm sorry to hear about the diagnosis. My son was diagnosed with Sagittal cranio at 9 months and had surgery the day before he turned 11 months. He did great during surgery and was playing in the hospital playroom within a day or so. He was released after 2 1/2 days. Of course, each case is different.

As the others stated, many of the parents on this site used Dr F. Just use the search option above and type in his name to find additional information and posts. I think I've read some posts on his costs as well. Good luck!

[Nezzy]

My son had surgery with Dr. Fearon back in September and did great! I love Dr. Fearon and can highly recommend him. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have...feel free to PM me. Regarding his cost...Dr. Fearon's fees for a posterior CVR run about $11,000 (that's what my son's surgery cost anyway). But the hospital fees are what are so expensive. I think for just the hospital stay it was around $50,000 and then you have another $14,000 for the neurosurgeon and $3,600 for anethesiologist. It really adds up. Luckily for me I won my insurance appeal and got it all covered. Are you in Texas?

[Max's Mom]

Hi there. Glad you found this site. It is amazing. My son is also a sagittal baby and we are traveling from Los Angeles to Dallas next week so Dr. Fearon can do the surgery. After all of the other surgeons we interviewed, I was the most comfortable taking our son to him. Good for you that you are local and don't have to worry about the travel! I would look around his website if you haven't already. There is a lot of great info on there about craniosynostosis in general, and there are a links to a lot of the research he has done in the field. http://www.thecraniofacialcenter.org

Sorry you're going through this, and I'll be happy to chime in later after our surgery.

[jsc]

Thank you all! Good luck, I will be praying for Max!

[*jules*]

Hi, I also want to welcome you and say sorry your dealing with this diagnosis. My son was diagnosed at almost 5mos old...couldn't imagine going thru that after only one month of the new baby bliss.

My son was metopic so I don't have any info regarding sagittal synostosis, but we also traveled to Dr. Fearon for his surgery. I only have great things to say about the man :) If you have any specific questions, please feel free to send me a PM (personal msg)...I'm happy to help.

I also want to say that I understand the fear and panic associated with learning you child has this and needs a huge surgery to correct it. I know it doesn't help much at this point, but believe me when I say these kids get thru the surgery with flying colors...it's really amazing. Please know that your son is the hands of one of the best surgeons available and be thankful you didn't have to travel across the country to find him :)

The months of waiting for the day of surgery can be very difficult so please lean on us, read our stories, pick our brains, etc. We're here to help.