I have been debating weather or not to write this post. I guess because 1 I wasn't sure if anyone even reads this and 2 I wasn't sure if I should really write about it yet. But I think the more people that know and the more people we have thinking and praying for Mason the better.
I guess I should just start from the beginning. I had such a wonderful pregnancy with Mason. He was born healthy and beautiful I might add :) He was developing great. Then one day I noticed that he didn't babble like a normal baby. I brushed it off because he was developing with his motor skills like crazy. By 9 months he still wasn't babbling or really make any noises besides giggling and crying. I talked to the pediatricians and they said he was fine and that we shouldn't worry. At age 1 he still was not saying anything not even Mamma or Dadda. Again I talked to the peds and they said not to worry. At 18 months we were in the same boat. I also started noticing that he was very sensitive to sounds and also sensitive to things he touched like different textures. I talked to the peds and they again said he was fine we needed to wait to do anything. So at 2 I had decided enough was enough. I knew in my gut something was up so I told the pediatrician's I wanted to get a second opinion. They sent me to our local Help Me Grow program and the speech pathologist and Occupational therapist evaluated Mason. They decided it was a good idea if we started Mason in speech therapy right away. They also noticed how sensitive he was to sounds and touching things. So he also started therapy for a Sensitivity Disorder. He has been in therapy for about 6 months and we have had no progress. The only things he is saying is "mamma", "bubble" and "woowoo" which is little dog he sleeps with. He is doing a little better with the sensitivity issues. What is strange is he is not a typical 2nd child where Emily talks for him. He wants to talk so badly but just can't get it out. His frustration is so sad.
Friday morning I went up stairs to get Emily some socks before school and I peeked in Mason's room to check on him because I thought he was still sleeping. When I looked in he was laying flat on his back violently shaking from head to toe and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head. After about a minute he stop and his eyes kind of glazed over. I picked him up and took hip downstairs. I called the peds and they said it sounded like a a seizure. SCARY! They made him and appointment right away. When I took him in the doctor they said with his other issues they think our best option was to send him up the Rainbow Babies Children's Hospital in Cleveland. Finally we were going to get some answers for my sweet boy!
Today at 7am we packed Mason up and headed up to Cleveland. The hospital was great! Very kid friendly right off the bat. His first appointment was an EEG. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain. Since they think he had a seizure they did this test. It was sad to watch them do it. It wasn't invasive or anything but it was traumatic for a 2 1/2 year old. He was a big boy and did great up until the very end. We were in the procedure room for about 2 hours. After that we headed to the atrium to get some lunch. He got to play and burn off some energy. After lunch we went to see the pediatric neurologist. She was great! We got the results from the EEG and they were normal. Which was good. She did not diagnose him with epilepsy. She said it may have been a one time thing which is actually normal. But if he has another episode then they will consider starting him on some medication. She started talking to us more about his other issues. They ruled out autism. She is leaning towards something called Childhood apraxia of speech. CAS is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words. But she also wants us to have a MRI done to take a picture of his brain. She is concerned he may have a abnormality such as a tumor or that there is something wrong with the folds of his brain. I am nervous about the MRI because of his age he will have it done on the ICU floor because they will have to sedate him.
We schedule the MRI in the morning. So I am guess I am asking for some prayers. Pray for Mason, pray for the Doctors and pray for Brent and I. Thanks in advance friends. I will keep everyone updated on how he is doing and what is going on!
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