I did not see that coming

Well, I said I’d give an update when I had one, and boy, do I have one.

We went to the pediatric neurologist yesterday to discuss the slight curve in Gabriel’s spine.  Dr. K was incredibly nice and gave us an hour of her time – which is so unusual for doctor’s appointments. 

She spent time doing all sorts of exams from watching Gabriel run, to having him draw for her, count, and identify colors and pictures.  I wasn’t sure what she was looking for until she started testing his reflexes.

We discussed the weakness on Gabriel’s left side and she asked how long he’s had it.  I told her since birth really because he only ever crawled using his right arm, he takes stairs one at a time leading with his right leg, and he’s delayed in his ability to run, jump, and ride a tricycle.  She told us that when parents tell her they knew their child was right or left handed since birth that it actually means something is wrong because the dominant hand isn’t identified until much later.

While testing his reflexes, she ran a stick-like device along the bottom of his right foot.  As expected, and as normal, his toes pointed down when she did this.  When she did the same to the left foot, his toes keep pointing up.  She did this over and over again with the same results.  I asked what it meant, and she said that it’s usually an indication that the patient has had a stroke at some point. 

A what?????

Yeah, I did not see that coming.

Also, when he was running (fast walking, really) down the hall, he would hold his right arm at the appropriate angle for running, but his left arm mostly hung at his side.

This was so not what I was expecting.  I was expecting her to say that the curve in his spine is minor and that we should just monitor it.  I didn’t expect her to question whether or not our baby has had a stroke at some point.

She ordered two MRI’s for Gabriel.  The first is to look at his brain for signs of a stroke.  The second is to look at his spine because she finds the asymmetry in his body to be concerning.  Of course, these will be two separate MRI’s done under sedation so he is perfectly still.  If neither of those identifies any cause of his weakness in the left, then we’ll move on to other tests in a few months.

In addition, she is referring us to a pediatric orthopedic doctor at St. Vincent’s because scoliosis doesn’t usually present itself this early in life and she wants them to determine what should be done about the curve.  I’m hoping (though not hopeful) we can coordinate the trip to St. Vincent’s at the same time as the trip to meet with the cleft team at Riley’s.

Needless to say, I haven’t begun to process any of this.  I’m sort of numb.  Last night, I lay awake wondering what it would mean if they find out he had a stroke at some point as a baby.  Did I miss something?  Life was so crazy then with all the feeding issues and surgeries that I could have missed something.  Would it mean we should be concerned about the possibility of more strokes in the future?  Are the effects reversible?  And mostly, why did it happen?

Chad, as usual, is taking it all in optimistic stride.  He believes no strokes have happened and that there is a very logical reason for the weakness.  I wish I had his optimism.  It’s hard to be optimistic when so much has happened to this wonderful little boy in just three short years.  I’m also not trying to be Debbie Downer because we really don’t know anything yet.

For now, we play the waiting game.   I am waiting for Riley to call with the date/time for meeting with the cleft team.  The MRI’s should be scheduled sometime in the next week.  I can’t call St. Vincent’s until I hear from Riley.  And we don’t meet with Dr. K again until December 18^th.  I suppose this is another one of God’s ways of teaching me patience.  I am pretty sure He’s been trying to teach me patience since I had Ethan, but I am apparently slow to learn.

I’m going to go ahead and end this post now before I get all weepy and obnoxious.  I’m sure I’ll have updates again soon.  Until then…