Alexander completed the roll he started a couple of weeks ago by going the other way tonight. (OK, OK, not literally but this is the first time he showed he was capable of going in the other direction). The left arm is still a bit weak and hard for him to move when he does his rolling thing.
Alexander has made it to his first milestone and he's looking really good,
all things considered. He's been completely weaned off of the
phenobarbital for quite a while now which leaves just one of the
four seizure medications (Topamax) for maintenance. Of course, the
one medication he'd stay on happens to be the one with the highest
insurance co-pay but he's so darned cute that he's worth it. He's also
decided to be like his big brother in terms of reflux so he's been
getting the Zantac and Prilosec to help with that. We're still thickening
his milk with this clear substance called
Simply Thick which helps him
take the milk without as much gagging (he's certainly a little piglet
who can suck down a big bottle and give some of the best belches you'll
ever hear...he can rock the walls when he sets his mind to it!).
We're expecting him to require some sort of physical therapy as he does have
a bit of stiffness on the left side. The arm seems to be more affected
than the leg but when you consider that his dysplasia was awfully close
to the motor strip, the fact that he's moving the left side at all is
something to be thankful for. We expect that the physical therapy
should help him gain strength on the left side but as to the ultimate
effects, we just don't know yet.
But we remember what it was like just a few months ago when our little one
was suffering 15-50 seizures a day and when he wasn't seizing, he was
pretty much a zombie due to all of the medications being dumped into
him.
If you had seen him then, you'd hardly recognize him now! He's bright-eyed
and bushy-tailed and it's hard to believe that three months ago, you
were lucky if you ever saw his pretty blue eyes. Now he doesn't have
a problem turning those pretty blue peepers on you full blast with a
healthy helping of cuteness on the side. He certainly engages well with
whoever is holding him and he is one amazing little chatterbox! He is
always talking and cooing even at night. You learn after a while to
tune out his nocturnal conversations...if you didn't, you'd never get
any sleep at all.
The boy is doing amazingly well for someone who just had major brain surgery
three months ago. The road to recovery is going to be a long one (when
you consider the physical therapy) but Dr Bruce has already given us a
miracle by working his magic to allow Alexander to walk that path
without the seizures (so far!). And hopefully, he will remain
seizure-free as he continues to progress.
We're approaching three months post-op and Alexander is showing signs that
he has had enough of just laying about and being cute. He decided to show
us that he was pretty serious about this tonight when he decided to roll
over from his back to his belly for the first time.
Mind you, it took a bit of time to complete the roll and he was a bit tired
after he was over the top but he did complete the roll. Daddy, being
the most observant person actually missed him coming over the top...one
second he's rolling onto his side and the next thing I see he's on his
belly. You know the old game where you tell someone that someone is
looking at them but then when they turn to look, it's no longer true.
I was wondering if Mommy and Alexander were playing the same trick on me
as I'd see him rolling but not see him go over the top. But you know
what?
Some things you just have to take on faith!