Kynan the little miracle
Mum’s advice to families dealing with rare condition
KYNAN Lochel was born with a rare condition that GPs and doctors initially assumed would go away as he grew older.
The little battler is undergoing treatment for plagiocephaly, wearing a special helmet for 23 hours a day in a bid to correct a rare condition brought on by complications at birth.
“In the ultrasounds you could see that he had his hand on his face. I wasn’t aware that he would come out that way I just thought it was cute,” his mother, Joeleene Lochel said.
“It wasn’t until quite a way through the labour when I was pushing him out that we could see that things were going to be difficult.
“It made the dimensions I had to push through bigger than what you normally would have to.”
When Ms Lochel noticed the shape of her son’s skull was not returning to normal, she trusted her gut to pursue the issue with a specialist after numerous GPs suggested her son would grow out of it.
“It wasn’t until the two month mark when you could see the difference in his head and I mentioned it to a few health care professionals who said ‘don’t worry it will sort itself out’ and we waited and waited and nothing changed - it was actually getting worse,” she said.
While the Murphy’s Creek mum-of-five and young Kynan avoided more serious consequences during the labour process, things could have been a lot worse.
Kynan’s plagiocephaly is more mild than most cases, but left untreated his family would have had to resort to drastic measures.
“The thought of having to go down the road of our child having their skull opened just scared the jeebies out of me,” Ms Lochel said.
“He is quite fortunate that it is mild case and that’s the reason why we have seen such a really good improvement.”
Despite what must be an uncomfortable day-to-day life, Kynan is taking the challenge in his stride.
He will wear the specialised helmet for a six-month period before being allowed to take off the cumbersome gear, but his mother said he is just like any other baby; full of life.
“He is such a content, calm and happy little baby,” Ms Lochel said.
“Everyone that knows him says he is so happy yet he has had such a rough time and you wouldn’t know it.”
The long-term goal for Ms Lochel is to ensure the shape of Kynan’s skull returns to normal.
In the short-term, she just wants her son to enjoy life.
“I had a few moments (during labour) when I wasn’t in the right place emotionally and mentally but when you look at the situation it was amazing that there wasn’t a horror birth story,” she said.
“He certainly is a miracle; we feel totally blessed to have him.
“My advice to anybody else that has a child suspected with plagiocephaly is to go with your gut because if something doesn’t feel right keep looking for answers.”
❝He certainly is a miracle; we feel totally blessed to have him. — Joeleene Lochel