Home of the Four Trans

Neurology

The doc said something quite poetic in response to my worry that Justin is cognitively behind: “They say the eyes are the window to the soul. When I look into his eyes, I see [great potential].”

Although poetic, I am not so sure I am convinced with the logic.

Anyway, I cannot quote the end exactly because both Nathan and Justin were a great distraction during the entire consult as they were chasing each other around the cube of an office, fighting over a remote control car controller, that did not have batteries. As usual, I was holding Justin under his armpits as he attempted to catch is brother with his left arm.

The distraction, though, provided the doc an opportunity to observe how Justin interacts with his brother, and his environment. She noticed how alert and motivated he was. His eyes followed his brother throughout the room. Even though he couldn’t walk very well, he was determined to get what he wanted. He was tireless! We were in consult for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and they were at it the entire time!

In her opinion, based on her observations and the area of Justin’s stroke, regardless of what the tests have shown, he is not cognitively affected by the stroke. She is confident in saying that he is able to process the information presented to him even if he is not displaying his understanding. This may be due to his personality, or lack of interest for a learning method. For example, he does not like to focus on books or flashcards. She suggested that we do more social activities with other kids his age or enroll him in daycare so that he could learn from other children, and be exposed to more things in a different setting.

I had some concerns about seizure activity, and described those episodes to her. She said the descriptions do not fit those of seizures, but she referred us out for a 20 minute EEG, anyway. If Justin does have seizures, there is a 50% chance that the EEG will pick it up, so the test itself is not that accurate. I contemplated whether or not the procedure was necessary, and she insisted that we do it just to know.

I inquired about speech therapy, and she encouraged us to have the pediatrician write a prescription for him so that he could have a head start.

Ophthalmology

Justin’s infant teacher had concerns about Justin’s vision since he’s been having trouble pointing out familiar objects in books and on flash cards. It is actually not uncommon for children who’ve had injury to the brain to experience some sort of field cut in their vision. 

The examination (that included prying Justin’s eye open with what I’ll describe as eye prongs while he yelled an screamed) showed the following:

-a bit of astigmatism in the left eye, which is normal for his age. I’ve learned that the eye is one of the last organs to grow in the human body, normally changing shape until about mid twenties.

-he responded to light and objects presented in front of him, and to his peripheries.

The doctor feels, at this time, that Justin’s vision is OK. However, according to him, a formal field cut test cannot be performed until about 7-8 years of age. So, he may have it, but they cannot tell for certain at this time.

I have learned that the field cut test may actually be done at about 3-4 years of age. At this point, I think Justin is seeing enough doctors, so I will not pursue another doctor’s opinion until I see further delay in his ability to recognize objects.

Upon entering, I had handed the doctor a “cheat sheet” that included Justin’s diagnosis and medical history, a roster of  all his doctors, and medications that he’s currently taking (he really appreciated this and told me that he was thoroughly impressed). Referring to that sheet, I asked him how any of his other ailments may affect his vision or eyes. He told me that with cardiac patients, there is a risk of developing broken vessels in the back of the eye (?). He vaguely mentioned this, then said that his vision should be the least of my concern. I told him, “Yeah, it is.” But, it is still a concern that I worry about because it pertains to Justin’s health.

But, onward we go.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Justin and Nathan has dentist and dermatology appointments coming up this month. Stay tuned for that! 

Don’t worry, I let my kids have fun, too. I’m looking into swimming lessons for the kids for the summer. I am also taking a tour of the local early intervention contracted institutions (ICEC) this week to get a feel of their group therapy/parent participation preschool for Justin.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 1:24 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.