Welcome! 

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In December of 2018, our youngest child Yehoshua was born. He was diagnosed with sagittal craniosynostosis upon discharge by the hospital pediatrician . 

 

They didn't tell us much, all they said was that he would need surgery performed by both a pediatric neurosurgeon and a plastic surgeon. Using contacts from our friends back in New York, we were immediately referred to Schneider's Children's Hospital in Petach Tikva, and told to go to Dr. Amir Kershenovich, pediatric neurosurgeon, and Dr. Asaf Olshinka, plastic surgeon. This was recommended to us by Dr. David Staffenberg, Chief Pediatric Plastic Surgeon in NYU, who specializes in craniofacial surgeries. He had operated before with both of these surgeons and highly recommended that we go and meet them to see if it was the right fit. We couldn't have asked for a better recommendation, and within 10 days following his birth, we knew who our surgical team would be. Although we had spoken to other families whose children had craniosynostosis, we felt very comfortable with our decision and felt very calm. Our son had an endoscopic strip craniectomy on April 1st, 2019. He was 3.5 months old, and he did amazing. The surgery was so easy and short, and within 10 hours he was back to his active and smiley self. We were very grateful. This surgical option requires the baby to wear a cranial molding helmet on average for 6-12 months following surgery. Our son wore the helmet for 8.5. months and did great. He is an adorable, active, smart little boy who brings our whole family a lot of joy. 

 

After seeing how much anguish other families have trying to get a diagnosis for their child, running around from doctor to doctor, having doctors tell them "oh, it's nothing", being sent for x-rays (not a good diagnostic tool for craniosynostosis) instead of CT scans, we decided to open up an organization, Cranio Kids Israel, to try and help other families in Israel deal with craniosynostosis. We hope to be able to guide families, provide medical information, alleviate stress, and provide information and support. We hope with all this, every family with feel relaxed with their child's diagnosis, and can come up with an immediate plan of action that they feel comfortable with.

 

With blessings of health,

Gavriel and Tamara Friedman

Jerusalem, Israel