Neurology Take II

Katie just had her regular (every 6 months) appointment with her Developmental Pediatrician, Dr. P., at our local children's hospital. Her doctor is a young dad of 3 (4th on the way soon) and we both really like him. Even though we enjoy our visits with him, I'm always nervous and a bit worried beforehand. I guess in the back of my mind I'm waiting for the day when Katie's brain injury catches up to her and we start seeing challenges. Don't get me wrong...I know so clearly that we are incredibly blessed and she will always be our miracle baby, but I don't want to see her stuggle with basic things we all take for granted.

We were there for over an hour. He spent most of the time just letting her cruise around and play with a box of toys. He is so impressed with Katie and how she has managed to work around her brain injury. Other than being a little behind in walking (she's walking up to 15 feet now!) and talking, she is doing fantasticly well! He also reminded me that she spent over 2 months laying flat on her back in the hospital, so she would likely be behind even without the injury. He told me again that he can't explain why she is doing so well. He believes that her socialability is an indication that she will do well despite having some challenges. With brain injuries socail skills are often lacking and are a big indicator of future "issues". Katie is about as social as one can get. She watched Dr. P walk into the exam room, raised her eyebrows, gave him a big smile, waved and then blew him 3 kisses. :)

He then asked me to do some exercises using a book I brought. One of those Baby Einstein books with photos of everyday food/objects. He asked me if she could point any of them out when I asked her where they were. I was so proud of her! She pointed out everything I asked perfectly...a clock, various fruit, animals, household objects, etc. Smart girl! :)

I have been a bit concerned about her speech. She has been saying Mama, Dada and Nana for months now, but hasn't added any new words to her vocabulary. She does, however, add lots of new sounds to her babbling regularly. I asked him a lot of questions about it and he told me not to worry...it will come. He's convinced that she will get there. Nice to hear, especially after only hearing about what she WOULDN'T do for so long. So...we work on words everyday until I turn blue. We also have a speech assessment with a therapist on July the 8th. We'll see how that goes and take it from there.

Dr. P also told me that it looks like Katie will walk just fine. It may take her a bit longer to get really stable on her feet, but I believe she'll get there.

A good appointment and lots of worries relieved for now.