Brain injury question ...
lizzierules23
member
I know this is a long shot, but thought it was worth a try. Our son sustained a skull fracture during birth that ended up with brain damage to his right parietal lobe and a small bit on his left occipital. My husband teaches psychology so we know a little bit about what that area controls in terms of development and we also know baby's brains are incredible in that they are growing/learning constantly and not as rigid as an adult's brain.
However, I was curious if anything similar has happened to anyone else (I apologize in advance if so because I know it is awful) and how their child was developing. Our son is still only 3 months, and he's doing fine, but we're just sort of holding our breath at every expected milestone to see what a problem might come up.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Re: Brain injury question ...
I am a lurker on this board, but I just wanted to share our story a little bit. My son was born with multiple brain abnormalities. He will be one on Wednesday, and it's been such an incredible year. We were told to expect sezieures and developmental delays. He is being followed by many specialists at the children's hospital. He is doing amazingly well. He is in physical therapy for gross motor delay and low muscle tone, and that's it for now. The specialists are "shocked" by how well he is doing. The geneticist even told us that she was surprised that he had developed a personality. It's all been very humbling. We feel lucky.
I understand exactly what you mean when you say you are holding your breath for the next milestone. I think most of the moms on this board understand that feeling. But one thing I have learned over the past year is to just let it go. We've got so many odds stacked against us, but DS will continue forward in life no matter what. We will continue forward with him, and try to stay in the moment as much as possible. I came to a point early on when I just had to tell myself, "Tuna, it's time to let it go and enjoy."
I am so sorry that your DS has a brain injury. My uncle told me something that has really stuck with me. He said, "The brain is an incredible organ. Think about adults in car crashes who incur brain injuries. They can relearn to talk, walk, think. You've got a little baby. What if his his brain can make new pathways for communication? Just stay positive and hopeful. Keep moving forward." I hope this is close to what you're looking for. Good luck to you!
::Goes back into lurking::
Hi there,
So, I have to preface this with the fact that I am not a clinician and don't have personal experience, BUT... I am a social worker, and I work only in brain injury (for the past 10 years). I work with families, survivors and professionals. I see people right after their injury, and for years post-injury. To me, if I had to choose a time to have a brain injury, it would close to birth, or in the first few years of life (of course, depending on the injury). It seems that the neuroplasticity of the brain at that age can continue to work so rapidly, so new neural pathways are more easily created. They say that babies brains are like sponges, and the older we get, the more difficult it is for us to compensate by learning new strategies for things. But, for babies and small children, it is more a part of growing. Heck, our frontal lobes aren't even fully formed until in our early 20s! So, I have seen amazing, encouraging stories from people who have had children with BI (again, depending on the BI) who had been given the proper start with therapies have truly wonderful recoveries.
Hang in there! The great thing is that we are in a era of technological and medical advances with brain injury! There is so much more than even 20 years ago! You never know someone's potential after an injury, so please keep a positive, open mind, and never give up!
My son sustained a brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation in utero. We were told in the NICU that he would likely have cerebral palsy, may be blind, have possible severe cognitive delays, may never drink a bottle, etc. Almost 2 years later he is healthy and none of those things happened. We are seeing a possible speech delay, but he tested borderline and so we are waiting a few months -- so far he continues to pick up new words almost daily.
Our neuro told us to never rely on any test, because it does not matter what it says, only what the baby does. I hope that things continue to progress well for your little one!
Thank you everyone for the kind words and sound advice. We know we are "lucky" in that he is so young and ... so easily manipulated. Haha. He was already a medical marvel in how quickly he recovered from it all, and we definitely just want him to continue to impress us with his ability to turn the other cheek and exceed expectations.
I was more looking for anyone in a similar situation out of curiosity than fear (though there is some fear there) since the things we know could be affected based on where the injury was (facial recognition, spacial differentiation, etc.) are things that we really won't be able to know/catch until he is older.
But, again, thank you for the kindness!