Re: preemie-l from Jackie Sturgill: Re Preemies W/ Brain Bleeds I, II, III, IV
Shelli & Joshua (Shellic@spyder.net)
Tue, 18 Jun 1996 09:28:39 -0500
re: <<Has anyone, 1) experienced this w/ their child & 2) found this to be the
case? I have asked our doctor to be completely straightforward w/ us &
not to sugarcoat anything? Is he just giving us "Pie in the Sky" or can
this really happen?>>
Our son has periventricular leukomalacia -- injury to the white matter of the brain. We
didn't know this until 15 months of age however, so its very difficult for me to say
that we've experienced his brain using other parts to perform certian functions that
were to be performed by injured areas. HOWEVER, this has always been explained to us as
you stated ) by neurologists and therapists alike.
We assume (and since its been almost 2 years that's all we can do) that Joshua suffered
a brain bleed either before during or just after birth -- the result was the PVL.
Joshua's PVL lead to him having Cerebral Palsy because of the LOCATION of the injury,
from what I've been told (Wish I knew more myself..sometimes its gets cloudy!) HOWEVER,
not all children with brain bleeds/pvl end up with cerebral palsy from what I've read.
Many (I would almost say the majority based on some reading I've done) are not affected
by the injury.
I feel Josh's CP was also influenced by the fact I'm Rh negative since that is a risk
factor as well.. but that's another long story.. ;)
I would summarize this by saying: Trust your doctor.. he/she is right in the
description of the brain of a baby being very easily "rerouted".. Some of the therapy
methods use this as a basis for reasoning: Patterning: If the body does something over
and over and over, the brain will learn how to do it on its own, for example.
Take care..
--
Shelli, wife of Daniel and mom of sweet Joshua Kyle (born at 30 weeks, 4lbs5oz now
diagnosed w/ CP/PVL and an extreme case of cuteness) who is now 2 and will tell you so
if he's in the mood.
email: shellic@spyder.net
www: http://members.aol.com/shellic/private/craigs.htm