Reports from the specialists

We've had a busy week of appointments this week. We started with a follow-up visit to the gastroenterologist. He was pleased with Noah's weight gain of a pound and a half and said to keep doing what we are doing. We do not need any more visits with him.

We saw the pediatric neurosurgeon yesterday at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. (He is part of the group that separated the Ethiopian conjoined twins last year.) He assessed Noah's fontanelle and deemed that surgery was not necessary. He is confident it will continue to close on it's own. He did recommend an MRI to get a baseline picture of Noah's brain. The things he will look for are malformation and/or atrophy. These sorts of things are sometimes present when there is a heart defect. The reason? There is not enough oxygenated blood to the brain due to the weakened heart. If there is an area that is affected (i.e. the occipital lobe) it could give us a more focused point of treatment.

Today was a full day spent in our home with the neurodevelopmental specialist. She assessed Noah from a neurological standpoint in three areas: sensory, motor, and social. She looked at things such as Noah's ability to bring his eyes together to converge on an object, passing an object from one hand to another, expressing needs with various cries, and creating vowel and consonant sounds. The results were somewhat skewed due to English being a new language for him. That being said, she placed him at a neurological age of 10 months. Although this may sound disheartening, she said she was very impressed with Noah and how far he has come in such a short time. She is very optimistic about his future!

She has equipped us with a full program of activities and types of stimulation designed to fully engage Noah's brain and improve overall functioning. We will start with walking 10 meters three times a day and work our way up to a total distance of 1500 meters per day. The purpose of this is to mature respiration (oxygenating the brain) and organize the cortex. We will also add: (1) auditory stimulation to help him filter sounds and process them properly, (2) reading to help him recognize words and pictures, (3) awareness of smells to stimulate the amygdala and improve emotional growth, and (4) sensory stimulation to increase the depth and consistency of sensation throughout his body. The final part of this program has a heavy emphasis on nutrition. In fact, the neurosurgeon at Children's said the most important thing we can do for Noah is feed his brain. So feed it we shall!

On another note, Noah crawled up seven stairs by himself. This is a BIG accomplishment! Every day we continue to small signs of growth and connection. Please keep us in your prayers as we enter this next phase of intensive therapy - for stamina, patience, and continued connection with our new son.