MRI Results

Lalo has been doing good since surgery.  Recovery was SO much easier this time.  I think the most painful part of the last 2 weeks has been his two front teeth pushing their way through.  He is still having some issues with throwing up and refluxing, though it seems to have slowly improved a little bit.  The surgeon still wants us to drain his stomach to minimize the throwing up which puts strain on his diaphragm.  We go back in 2 weeks to evaluate again. 

We finally had his MRI on Tuesday and Thursday we went to see the neurosurgeon to discuss the images.  Lalo did great with anesthesia as usual (little ones have to be sedated so they stay still). The breathing tube did help turn his runny nose into a nasty cough, but luckily no ER issues like last time.  The visit with the neurosurgeon went great - no new issues!  His view is that the digestion issues Lalo has are not neurological.  He also is confident that Lalo's head is growing appropriately and there are no issues with plates fusing too early.  The main reason he wanted the MRI was to follow what would happen to the brain physically after such a big injury.  Our understanding was that the left side of the brain would not grow where the injury occurred.  What we didn't realize is that the part that was damaged basically disintegrates.  Instead of damaged brain in that area it basically just becomes a fluid filled space.  This actually makes it a lot easier to visualize what happened to him on the latest MRI images.  Practically all of the left side of Lalo's brain is gone, as well as a few other smaller areas.  The neurosurgeon said in an adult this would be devastating, it would mean absolutely no movement on the right side, as well as no speech.  Lalo has the advantage of time and neural plasticity though, and we will watch to see how Lalo is able to wire what is left of his brain to take over those functions. 

You may think an appointment with your son's neurosurgeon who shows you pictures of approximately 50% of his brain that remains would be depressing, but quite the opposite.  Take a look at the video I took last week and tell me it doesn't make you grin ear to ear...

I promise to put up some recent pic soon, I just wanted to share the good news first.