Brian's birthday / medical update for Hannah

We had a fantastic time celebrating curly bear's birthday--definitely a birthday parade! We went out to the movies and breakfast the weekend before, went out to dinner and ice cream with a friend the night of, and then went to Magic Time Machine and opened presents the weekend after with Gammy. Wow!

We also wanted to give a quick medical update on Hannah for those following her foray into the "most specialists seen in the shortest period" contest! I've included a copy of a picture from her latest spinal MRI. Maybe you can use it as a teaching tool for any little people interested. The neurologist marked where the large meningocele (fluid filled sac) is at the base of her spine and where the spinal cord goes down lower than it should, indicating possible spinal tethering. We see a neurosurgeon on Tuesday and he'll look more closely at the MRI and discuss with us what he thinks might be happening and some options / plan of attack, if any. We had an ultrasound done on her bladder this past week. The urologist said the bladder is the window to the nervous system. Hmm, learned something new!

So, backing up, Hannah had an entire morning where she went to see specialists that are on the spina bifida team. The physical therapist, dietitian, and orthopedist (no scoliosis right now, we'll keep our eyes out for changes in her spine) said she doesn't need them and she looks great in those areas. Hooray! One gold star! The neurologist said that most kids with lower spine issues still end up being very bright, without any correlation to any learning or developmental disabilities.

We're very close to a firm decision to put her into the preschool program for children with disabilities at the local elementary school. They have therapists that work with her there, plus a 3 to 5 teacher to student ratio in this special program. We feel like this might help her catch up for a year or two. The older kids are sensitive to her being away from home like this every morning (it's a half day program, ending at 11am), so we've been careful to couch it as simply another therapy-type program that will help her make some good progress in learning the things she needs to learn. They're cool with that. So, please be sensitive about not saying she's going to "school" now if you talk with them about it.

She'll see the cleft palate team in the beginning of December, so we'll let you know how that goes.

We always appreciate your prayers for her! God has the situation under His complete control and we rest easy in that. She's signing more and more, so we're getting a better glimpse into her desires and thoughts. We're working on putting two signs together now. I actually can't attach the MRI picture on this post. I'll have to work on changing the format.