Call from Dr. Urata

Dr. Urata, who is the craniofacial surgeon at Children's Hospital in LA called today. He answered a lot of questions and was very easy to talk to. Of course he can't answer any of the diagnosis questions I would ask since he hasn't seen Jesse yet, but here's what I found out.

1. What type of procedure are you recommending? (Endo, CVR, FOA, Strip) Can you describe the procedure? Dr. Urata does not do the endoscopic procedure. He explained that he is very concerned with something happening that would cause uncontrollable bleeding. In an open CVR, it is normally easy and quick to repair, but he said no one has been able to explain how they could do a quick repair if needed during an endoscopic procedure. When he asks, they just say it hasn't happened. (Endoscopic is fairly new and the instance of this type of bleed is very rare in the open CVR, so this could be why it hasn't happened yet.) For metopics, he almost always does the CVR with FOA.
2. What is the best time (or age) to perform the surgery that has been recommended? 8-9 Months. This is to lessen the chance of the skull relapsing into it's previous shape.
3. How many cranio surgeries do you do in a week/year? Dr. Urata does 2-3 surgeries per week. 
4. Will it be a straight line or a zig-zag? Zig-zag incision is used to help hide the scar better under the hair.

He also said that of all the types of cranio, metopic is probably the best to have. This is because it normally has the best outcome as far as giving the child a normal appearance.

Dr. Urata had a lot of good things to say about Dr. Cohen, the craniofacial surgeon here in San Diego. He said that if I do feel comfortable with Dr. Cohen, he said I should stick with him (I haven't seen Dr. Cohen yet and will see Dr. Urata first). Dr. Urata sees patients from all over the country but he doesn't ever try to get their business because he feels it's best for the parents and children to stay local if they can. I really liked this about him.

Some good info and I'll go over more of the specifics when I see him next week.