I took Christopher for his follow-up appointment with his neurologist today. I'm happy to report that it went really well! The neurologist was very pleased with his progress. He agrees that there's no sign of any deficit at the moment, which is great news.
He told me that Christopher's brain MRI was reviewed in neuroradiology rounds at CHEO. 'Rounds' is a word that can mean different things in the medical world - both the process of going around the hospital to see each patient under a particular team's care, and also a meeting where people with a common professional interest or role meet to review interesting cases. So in this case, the rounds would be radiologists and neurologists who get together to look over and discuss brain imaging that is unusual or difficult to interpret. The reason Christopher's MRI is interesting is that his stroke is in a bit of an unusual location and there is some debate of which artery was blocked by the clot that caused the stroke. (very distal ACA vs. very distal MCA, for the medical readers out there...interesting because the stroke is quite posterior.) At any rate, the neurologist says that it's "mostly of academic interest" because it won't really change his prognosis, but it's always nice to remember that many people who we've never met have still contributed to his care.
In terms of Christopher's prognosis, the neurologist said today that his motor development on his left side will still have to be closely monitored. Apparently the location of the stroke suggests that his leg may be involved, so they'll be watching closely as he learns to walk, and of course the physiotherapist will keep working with him and monitoring. Also, he is at an increased risk of seizures, basically for the rest of his life. This is particularly an issue if and when he gets sick and has a fever. And since seizures don't always look like the image from the media, where someone is lying on the ground and shaking all over, we'll have to be sure that anyone who cares for Christopher knows what to look for. Hopefully it will never be an issue - but at least we know what to watch out for.
The best part of today's appointment was when the neurologist said this: "I think it's likely that he will have no cognitive sequelae from this." In other words, he thinks it's likely that Christopher's intelligence and ability to learn were not affected by the stroke. Of course, no one can say for sure at this point, but such a strong endorsement gives us a lot of hope!
We go back to see the neurologist when Christopher is a year old, or sooner if there are any concerns. It was nice to have an appointment that full of good news!
On the cardiac front, the cardiac catheterization and dilatation is booked for November 16th. Christopher and I will spend the night in the hospital that night and will hopefully be home on the 17th. Please send good thoughts and prayers his way next week.
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