9:52
- culture
- July 7, 2020
Reality TV star says baby needs brain surgery
"We have our faith that she will be OK."
Video by Faith Bernstein
According to the Mayo Clinic, craniosynostosis is a birth defect which occurs when a baby's skull prematurely fuses before the baby's brain is fully formed. As the brain continues to grow, the head can begin to appear misshapen. Surgery is required when the prematurely fused skull interferes with brain growth.
In Dove's case, this happened at the part of the skull known as the lamboid structure, a fibrous joint located back, or posterior, part of the skull. The lamboid type of craniosynostosis is a rare condition and, in Dove's case, is of the nonsyndromic kind, meaning no genetic disorder caused the problem.
A misshapen head isn't the only indicator of craniosynostosis, though. Mellencamp noted how they thought a band -- or, in some cases, a helmet -- were all that would be required to help reshape Dove's head. It wasn't until the doctor performed a CT scan that it was confirmed to be lambdoid craniosynostosis.
\"We are so grateful to have an amazing team of doctors and surgeons who have caught this early and will be working on her,\" she continued. \"So although we are filled with nerves as neurosurgery sounds scary, we have our faith that she will be OK.\"
Mellencamp also affirmed the operation has \"a very high success rate\" after a combination of recovery in the hospital and at home.
Despite expressing confidence in the medical team who will operate on her infant's brain, the mother of three said she would like additional comfort and guidance and asked fans to keep Dove in their prayers.
\"If you have had a child with this same surgery, please let me know below, as I would love any additional insight and support,\" she concluded.
Besides Dove, Mellencamp is mom to 5-year-old son Cruz and 7-year-old daughter Slate, both of whom she shares with husband Edwin Arroyave.
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