Today I took Lizzie to the pediatrician for her 15-month checkup. Apparently she's going to be a supermodel, because she was in the 90th percentile for height and 30th percentile for weight. She is a long and lean little girl! After the exam, the doctor said she looks good and is healthy. She asked how things were going with neuro and I told her about the appointment a couple of weeks ago. She was glad to hear things are going well there. She asked if Lizzie had at least five words in her vocabulary. I said, "Well, not spoken words, but she knows eight to ten words in sign language!" Dr. M would still like us to keep working on the sounds, but is glad she's communicating in some way. Lizzie's next appointment with the pediatrician will be at 18 months.
The OT came on Wednesday and was pleased with how much progress Lizzie is making in sign language. She can consistently sign mama, dada, dog, milk, more, cracker, apple, please, and book. There are also a few others that she does some of the time. The Baby Signing Time DVDs are really helping; Lizzie doesn't pay much attention to them, but they're helping the rest of the family learn the signs so we can use them with Lizzie later! Speech therapy is still on the table for the future, but for now the OT is going to give her a bit longer to see what kind of progress she'll have in making sounds.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Today's appointment
We took Lizzie to her neurology appointment today. Dr. K thinks she's looking good and doing well. He decided to take her off of the pyridoxine and leucovorin she's been on since last September. He also increased her dose of Keppra (the anti-seizure med). She'll still take it twice a day, just 0.5 mL more than before. He said she's still on a pretty low dose, but he wants to keep it as low as possible as long as it's working for her. He said he does not need to do another EEG at this time because the most recent one she had, in March, was similar to the one she had prior to that, in October.
Dr. K will be gone for the next year on a leave of absence, but he is assigning her to Dr. A while he's away. He said that, assuming all continues to go well, she needs to be seen again in six months. When it gets closer to her 2nd birthday, he wants another MRI of her brain. He especially wants to see the right side of her brain, where it keeps showing slower brain waves on her EEGs. He wants to see if there's a structural abnormality or something else that might be causing the slower brain waves. I'm sure we'll hear more about scheduling the MRI when we see Dr. A in February.
Overall, it was a great visit; very positive!
Dr. K will be gone for the next year on a leave of absence, but he is assigning her to Dr. A while he's away. He said that, assuming all continues to go well, she needs to be seen again in six months. When it gets closer to her 2nd birthday, he wants another MRI of her brain. He especially wants to see the right side of her brain, where it keeps showing slower brain waves on her EEGs. He wants to see if there's a structural abnormality or something else that might be causing the slower brain waves. I'm sure we'll hear more about scheduling the MRI when we see Dr. A in February.
Overall, it was a great visit; very positive!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
OT visit today
Lizzie's OT came again today. She was glad to see that Lizzie's walking now; in fact, Lizzie has even been taking more steps at a time just in the last few days, so we're happy with her progress there. The OT said Lizzie's motor skills seem to be doing just fine. She commented on Lizzie's demeanor and noticed how cheerful she is.
Most of what we talked about was her language. The OT asked if Lizzie ever seems to get frustrated that she can't communicate something to us, and we said not really. She said that kids who always seem to be okay with pretty much whatever--that can actually be a sign of a delay. She asked us more questions, and observed Lizzie for a while. The conclusion seems to be that Lizzie is a little delayed in her language skills, but is still making some progress. We're going to keep an eye on it another month, and if she hasn't made very many gains by the end of August, they will see about getting a speech therapist for her.
In the meantime, we will work on pointing to pictures and objects and naming them and helping Lizzie point at them too; we will practice giving her two options for things she wants and letting her choose; we will give her directions and help her reinforce her responses (such as "Bring me the ball" and help her get the ball, or "Where's Mommy" and then I call her name and wave); we will work with her on animals and their sounds; and we will keep doing sign language with her. The OT recommended a series of DVDs called Baby Signing Time; I've put those on hold at the library and will pick them up as soon as they're available. So we have a lot of work to do this month!
Most of what we talked about was her language. The OT asked if Lizzie ever seems to get frustrated that she can't communicate something to us, and we said not really. She said that kids who always seem to be okay with pretty much whatever--that can actually be a sign of a delay. She asked us more questions, and observed Lizzie for a while. The conclusion seems to be that Lizzie is a little delayed in her language skills, but is still making some progress. We're going to keep an eye on it another month, and if she hasn't made very many gains by the end of August, they will see about getting a speech therapist for her.
In the meantime, we will work on pointing to pictures and objects and naming them and helping Lizzie point at them too; we will practice giving her two options for things she wants and letting her choose; we will give her directions and help her reinforce her responses (such as "Bring me the ball" and help her get the ball, or "Where's Mommy" and then I call her name and wave); we will work with her on animals and their sounds; and we will keep doing sign language with her. The OT recommended a series of DVDs called Baby Signing Time; I've put those on hold at the library and will pick them up as soon as they're available. So we have a lot of work to do this month!
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