Oliver’s Story: Biggest Impact Five Counties Had ‘Was They Gave Us Hope’
Find a Printable Version of Oliver’s Story Here
Oliver is a regular kid — funny, gentle and thoughtful and always has a smile on his face. He loves swimming, biking, skating and playing basketball. Oliver is a massive Robert Munsch fan, dislikes turnips (just like his dad, Jamie) and avoids large crowds like his mom, Alia.
As noted by Oliver’s parents, Alia and James, Five Counties gave their family hope as they faced unknowns early in their son’s life:
“At Oliver’s six-week checkup, the midwives noticed Oliver had very tight neck muscles causing his head to tilt to the right, and he favoured that side when looking at us and while feeding. The midwives indicated that it could be a mild case of torticollis, where the neck muscles are shortened on one side. We were given some stretching exercises and they referred us to Five Counties.
“When we got to Five Counties we met with our physiotherapist, Jennifer, who explained torticollis was common. In Oliver’s case, it was quite pronounced which led to an augmented head shape. In addition to torticollis he was diagnosed with plagiocephaly which turned out to be quite severe with flattening on some parts of his head and a prominent forehead.
“I had a hard time accepting that this sweet baby who I spent months growing, with a very challenging pregnancy and delivery, was anything other than perfect. When we met with Jennifer, she had a gentle way of explaining what was happening, the impact and the very clear next steps. I knew right away we were incredibly lucky to be in the care of Jennifer and Five Counties.
“Oliver has benefited from physiotherapy during his time at Five Counties. His main goals are to improve his neck’s range of motion, improve his neck strength and to help reach his developmental milestones. Our focus was on maximizing the amount of time we did the physiotherapy exercises. Oliver also had to wear a cranial helmet for twenty-three hours a day to treat the plagiocephaly. We spent a lot of time isolated to keep Oliver healthy because if he got a fever the helmet would have to come off and we would lose valuable treatment days.
“Our early access to Five Counties was instrumental in getting the correct treatment for Oliver at a very critical time in his development. There is a ‘golden time’ that interventions can be used to help re-shape a baby’s head. His treatment was not cosmetic, and at six weeks there was already significant changes in his facial and head structure. If left untreated or on a long waitlist, the impacts of his torticollis would have had a stronger impact on him reaching his mobility milestones.
“Without Five Counties, Oliver would have been challenged at meeting his mobility milestones and we would have missed the window to act on his torticollis and plagiocephaly. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!”
Interested in sharing your story? Email us at development@fivecounties.on.ca
Category: General News,Testimonials