Jack's Neurology Appointment

I have a lot of information to share, but I don't really know how to share it. Please bare with me.

When we got to Dr. Bunch's office yesterday, she said that she saw something on the MRI that she wanted to talk over with the Radiologist. Jack was hungry so I was feeding him some baby food. She came back and we talked about the things that Jack can't do or things that we're concerned about.

(A side note - why does the nurse come in, ask the questions, write down the answer, only for the doctor to do the same thing? Moving on....)

I told Dr. Bunch about the things Jack does or doesn't do with his left side that I thought were odd. She noticed that he could hold something and grab something with his left hand and thought that was good. She noticed that he held himself up well while sitting on the floor. These are all pretty new things for us, so we too are happy about it.

As we spoke, all I could think of was 'when's the right moment to ask her about the MRI?'. Finally I asked. She said "I want to show it to you. Leave your stuff here and come with me." We walked across the hall to look at the images on a computer screen. The whole time my brain is saying "I knew it. I knew that thing wasn't normal." She said that she and the radiologist don't agree on the reading of the MRI. The radiologist says it's normal while Dr. Bunch disagrees. She said she'd agree with him if Jack's left side functioned in the same manner that his right did.

She showed me a part of his right brain that was damaged - "A chunk missing" as she put it. She asked if I was ever sick or if I ever had spotting while I was pregnant." It seems to me that I once had a cold when I was pregnant. She said that the damage was done while he was in utero. Jack also has more fluid on his brain than he should. I'm sure she must have told me why this was, but for the life of me I can't remember. Anyway, she's unsure how much he'll be affected, but she feels that he'll be able to compensate for the loss. She wants to see him back in 3 months to see what kind of progress he makes.

She said that occupational therapy is going to be the key in his therapy. Jack might never get any better than he his now and will then have to compensate for what is lost. I didn't think to ask if it was going to affect his speech or the way he walks. Don't ask why - I don't have the answer. Don't take this the wrong way, but I was just so happy to have an answer and to know that I wasn't crazy that I didn't have the questions until later. I've put a call into the nurse to see if I can get some of the answers.

Anyway, there are the results. It's not really what I expected. I was a bit angry that I was told that the test was negative, but I understand that it's just two different opinions. I tend to believe Dr. Bunch. Her opinion makes much more sense to me than the radiologist's.