I have to skip One Word Wednesday today because there are just way too many words on my mind that I need to get out. I’ve been avoiding writing this, I kind of felt like I could just keep it to myself and it wouldn’t be real. But, the fact is, it is real, and it’s part of Ryder’s life, and I blog about Ryder’s life….so….here goes…
A Child Development Specialist and an Occupational Therapist came out on Monday to do a thorough evaluation of Ryder’s development, specifically looking at his left arm, since that’s the real area of concern. After “playing” with him for over an hour (that’s what it seemed like they were doing, although I know they were looking for him to do specific things with each different activity) we sat around the table to discuss their findings. The conversation started so well, they were raving about his cognitive, social, and communication skills. They talked about what a wonderful personality he has and how interactive he is, it made me feel great to hear them say what a good job they felt Alan & I were doing in raising him.
The next set of skills they talked about were his fine motor and gross motor skills…basically the physical side of things. Obviously we know that his arm has been holding him back in some areas of development, but what we didn’t know is that it’s actually his whole left side! They said he has high muscle tone in his left arm and low muscle tone in his left leg. They went on to say that they felt we needed to take him to get an MRI of his brain…did those words just feel like a dagger in your stomach too? Or is it just me?? They explained that your brain is the control center for your entire body, so since his left side is showing weakness, they need to go to the brain to see if they can pinpoint why (some examples they gave were a possible spot or lesion on his brain).
They want to start aggressive Occupational Therapy with him by coming out and doing 45 minute sessions once a week. This part I’m okay with, I already saw him progress SO much just after they worked with him during this visit (like the clapping he started doing the very next day, and lifting his left arm above his head!) so I know he will benefit from that. The part I hate is having to take him to be seen by a neurologist, then for an MRI, which they will have to put him to sleep for again (this makes 3 times in his first year of life!)…then hearing who knows what results. I’m just not looking forward to any of it! We just got cleared from all this medical stuff, just last month Ryder got his clear bill of health from his kidney doctor, and now it seems we’re starting all over with something completely different.
Anyway, I have to be positive because I’m a positive person, and because it’s not about me, it’s about this sweet, amazing little miracle baby who needs me to be positive and encouraging. No matter what results come out of the MRI, or the nerve testing, or whatever route this ends up going, I can be confident that Ryder will overcome this, just like everything he has in his life. We have God on our side and He has this situation in His hands and is already working on making it better, He has proven Himself faithful to us time and time again (thanks for that reminder Jess!) and so all we can do is trust Him and know that He will come through.
I hope no one is getting tired of praying for Ryder, because I think he’s going to need another round of your prayers!
As of right now, nothing has been scheduled yet, his Pediatrician is waiting to hear from a neurologist at Children’s and has a call into one other pediatric neurologist just to get some other opinions as to where to go from here…I’ll update as this situation unfolds.
