ANSWERS!!

You don’t know how good it feels to finally have a post that doesn’t say “we’re waiting on this” or “waiting on that”…the wait is over and we finally have ANSWERS!!

The Neurologist just called and went over the results of Ryder’s MRI and I’m happy to report that Ryder did have a stroke.  Okay wait, I’m not happy that Ryder had a stroke, but I’m happy to finally know that it was a stroke.  This is a good diagnosis because it means that:  1) There is no malformation on his brain, and 2) it was an isolated incident, not something that will continue to cause further damage.  And the information on the stroke gets even better…there was minimal damage done to his Cortex (Grey Matter), which means that the stroke took place in the White Matter, which if you are going to have a stroke is the BEST place to have one.  I’m trying to explain this in Mommy terms and praying that a Doctor doesn’t read it and roll on the floor laughing at my interpretation.  So basically, there is the outer part of the brain, the Grey Matter, that controls all of your functions, and then there is the White Matter underneath that has all these little wires (probably called Neurons or something, ha!) that send signals to your body to do that function.  So since Ryder’s stroke took place in the white matter, it means that he has to work extra hard to get those little wires stimulated so that they will start making new connections and sending signals to his body to function the way his brain is telling it to.  Any time you have a brain injury you are at a higher risk for seizures, but if his stroke had happened in the Grey Matter he would be at a “much, much, MUCH higher risk”.  So it is a huge blessing that the stroke happened in the White Matter and not the Grey Matter for all of those reasons.

Moving forward, the Doctor said that the report justifies keeping up with Occupational Therapy for rehabilitation.  He noted that the area that the stroke took place would suggest that Ryder’s leg would be more affected than it is.  The fact that he has regained a lot of function in his leg is proof to him that his brain is already hard at work re-wiring itself. 

In true Ryder fashion, the Dr. reported that out of all the possible outcomes, these results are “Significantly on the better end of the spectrum”!!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Ryder, even though he keeps having obstacles placed in his path, you can see how much God is at work in his life.  He has a special plan for this little boy…I just know it <3