Results

We went for our neurologist appointment Friday to find the results of the EEG and the MRI. The MRI went well on Wednesday, although we were there for 6 hours. They had Tyler in a room on the Pediatric floor at Stormont. They checked him in and everything and took his vitals, got him a gown and even gave him an IV in his little hand. He was a real trooper though. He did a great job. He cried a little but they said he was one of the best patients they had for the IV. (I'm sure they haven't said that to anyone else!) But he really did do a great job. Then he was set though, Daddy got his hand wrapped too. So then it was just waiting until the MRI tech was ready downstairs so Tyler roamed the halls like he knew what was going on. He looked so cute in his hospital gown. I can say that because he wasn't there for something totally serious or life-threatening.

So anyway that went well and then we had to wait to see what the abnormal meant for the EEG results that the nurse 'slipped' and told me over the phone. I will have to say that I was a little uptight about the whole abnormal thing. I thought it was going to be very life threatening or something.

The results are a big deal but don't seem to be life-threatening. His tests did show abnormalities in his little brain. He has a malformation of the brain that the doctor related to a birth mark on the brain. It is called closed lip schizencephaly. It is an uncommon congenital disorder of cerebral cortical development. I'm not sure all the details of this deal but I understand that it means that somewhere between the 5th and 6th month of pregnancy some things didn't go quite right. There were parts of the 'wiring' of the brain that went a little weird. So things aren't exactly where they should be. This malformation is causing the language area of the brain to be irritated which may be why he isn't talking as much as expected of a 2 1/2 year old. So they are going to try some anti-seizure medication for a while to see if that helps. The doctor thought the couple of episodes that he has had in the past could be seizures because they are very common in kids with this disorder. So we are trying the medication for a while and go back in a month. After that he will try one other medication to see about some results. If things don't improve he recommends going to UCLA, Cleveland, or Miami for further evaluation. There is also a possibility of speaking with brain surgeons.
It really is all a little overwhelming. I am just hoping that the medication can do it's thing and that God is going to heal the inadequacies of his brain so that he can be normal in development with speaking.

I am praying that the medicine works, that preschool at Logan will help and that things will be okay. Praise God that it is not life-threatening and praise God that they could see something on the MRI and EEG and it wasn't something they are still confused about. It could be a lot worse.

So anyway remember to pray for us when you think of us. Pray for the medical side of it but also that things will start getting better with the different speech therapies and occupational therapies.