MRI

Maksim had his brain and cervical MRI along with his hip x-ray this last Saturday. We made an early day trip of it by leaving at 3am and getting home around 2:30 in the afternoon. It was a long day for sure. Thank goodness Maksim slept most of the time in the car! :)

His MRI went well; he handled the sedation extremely well and even kept his oxygen up the whole time. He was the definitely the most peaceful and relaxed we have ever seen him! He was sent home with absolutely no complications or concerns.

The weekend felt like forever as we waited for the phone call from the neurologist on Monday. When she FINALLY called, we were very blessed to learn that the cervical MRI showed the hemangioma had no internal growth on the spine or brainstem; the hip x-ray showed no evidence of hip dysplasia; and the brain MRI results were "normal." When I was speaking with the neurologist, she however, did not hesitate to make an official diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy. She listed all of his current problems, along with much of his history, including being born not breathing, and said she is certain this is what it is. She ordered another MRI to be done after his 2nd birthday, when his brain will be fully myelinated, but wanted to stress that there is a percentage of children with cerebral palsy whose MRI's do not show the evidence.

We still have no idea what this diagnosis will mean for Maks in the long-run. Cerebral palsy is an extremely broad-spectrum diagnosis, ranging from the very mild to the very severe. Although we definitely know that Maksim's case is on the mild end, we don't really know what "normal" will mean for him or what kind of challenges will come up in the future. We are very encouraged, however, by all of his therapists' impressions of him and optimism regarding his progress and potential. Despite the noticeable spasticity, sensory issues, language delays, and gross and fine motor delays, they continue to rave about our Miracle Maks. We are also very confident that early diagnosis and treatment regarding his vision and motor delays have greatly contributed to his progress. We are also thankful for the many doctors, specialists, and therapists we have involved in his care. I'm still not sure how we manage 4 therapy sessions a week with the many other things we have going on, but we will continue to do whatever it takes to help Maksim reach his potential.

This precious boy continues to beat the odds, and we are blessed to have his sweet spirit in our home. Here is a picture of him in the car right after he woke up from the sedation. Poor kid was pretty delirious! :) I also had to add a picture of my princess.






- Posted by Shalee using BlogPress from my iPad