For the past 5 days Emma has been stuttering over her words. It started this past weekend when we were at the Zoo and has been progressively getting worse until today when we were at gymnastics. My mom came with us and as we played in the gymnastics studio, Emma was unable to complete ANY words. She was trying to get my moms attention and she attempted to say Nana almost 20 or so times before she got frustrated and laid on the floor and then eventually said... "I just can't say it". It was the first sentence she said all day. I was heartbroken... she realizes she is struggling to speak.
Well, after seeing Emma today, Mom encouraged me to call the DR. I was planning on it anyway but I decided to call them when I was on my way home from gymnastics. I called the nurse advice line and they asked me all kinds of questions -- is she having seizures, has she been walking funny, is she alert -- and then told me "I am advising you to take her immediately to the ER at Children's Hospital. Do not hesitate to go, this is a sign of a potential neurological change". So, I hang up with her and called Craig. I had a pit in my stomach and could have thrown up right there. All I could think was brain tumor. I cried the entire way to the hosptial.
We were seen by the resident and the attending in the ER and they were pretty sure that it was something other than a tumor. When they consulted the Neurologist, he suggested a CT scan. That was pretty scary that the neurologist thought it was so abnormal that they needed to scan her brain. So, after four hours being in the ER (Emma was tired from not having a nap and they wouldn't let her eat) they took us back for the scan. Luckily, my mom and come to the hospital so she could watch Owen while Craig and I went to the CT scan with her. She did really well considering how cranky she was. She held still and got three stickers afterwards.
After the LONGEST 40 minutes of my life, they came in and told us the scan was CLEAR! YAY! That is very good news. The problem is... we still don't know what is wrong with her? As she calmed down, she was able to complete some sentences and words but she is still struggling a lot. We are to follow up with our Pediatrician on Monday. There are a couple of things that could be happening. Since she has always been advanced in language skills, so she could be having trouble keeping up with her thoughts of what she wants to say. Or, she could be developing a stutter. Or, she could be having siezures. Or, she could be developing more language skills and this is just a temporary side effect.
It has been a long and stressful day. Please keep Emma in your thoughts and prayers that this is just temporary and she is not having any longterm issues. Aside from what happened to Owen, this has been one of the worst days... I just keep saying to myself This too shall pass.
I think they love us at Childrens! With everything that has been going on with our kids we have made them A LOT of money :)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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2 comments:
Oh my goodness! Poor Emma. You guys are such troopers. Throughout all of this you are still able to look on the bright side and make jokes. You will definately be in our thoughts and prayers. We LOVE you all!
oh my gosh! i wish i could hug you right now. what a relief the brain scan came back okay. i've googled this, and many people say it's because of the advanced language skills--the mouth just can't keep up with the brain. most of the little ones come out of it within a few months. you're so strong annie!!
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