Another busy week in the Dunlap house. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have my sister come up and visit for a few days before she starts another gruelling semester of law school. It was so great to hang out with her and she was such a help with the boys.
Dominic had his usual OT with Early On on Monday and this time she brought out another OT to observe along with a vision consultant. I was informed for the first time that Dominic is not only peripherally blind in his right eye, but also his left. This was news to me and something I had not heard before. She said he would have a difficult time walking and going down steps. But that he would have an especially hard time reading. I didn't take it to heart since this woman had never met him and was no neurologist or opthomoalogist. Unfortunately, she was right. We saw Dominic's Opthomologist on Wednesday and she confirmed the same thing. He lost his peripheral vision in BOTH eyes on his right side. Needless to say I was a little upset that no one had ever mentioned this to me before. She said we had probably been told by the neurosurgeon and neurologist, but that when we were told that he would lose his peripheral vision on the right side, it was implied that it was the right side in both eyes, not just one. The optic nerve from each side of the brain splits and is responsbile for different areas of vision in each eye. So, removing an entire hemisphere will remove vision that that side was responsible for. So, basically he can see fine when he looks straight ahead but if he tries to look to his right without turning his head, he will be totally blind. So, that's great. His opthamologist did remind me that this was a down side to the surgery, but that it had to be done to stop the seizures. Fortunately he will not know any different and will learn to compensate. I guess even though I know he's a little delayed, I thought that someday he would catch up and live a normal life like anyone else. I feel terrible for knowingly doing this to him, but I guess what choice did we have? If we didn't stop the seizures, he could have easily ended up a vegetable. I suppose it's the lesser of the two evils.
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| You can see where the optic nerve splits. The blue is what was removed thus leaving Dominic blind on the right side of both eyes. |
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Here is Dominic during Early On last week. He LOVES this monkey Linda brings. His right arm is getting stronger each day and he can now support himself solely on his right arm and play with his left.
On a good note, we found out he doesn't need glasses! The last appointment we had with the opthomologist she was leaning toward glasses. But after dilating his eyes and a three hour office visit, she decided his eyes were correcting themselves and glasses weren't needed.
Dominic pretty much dominated the treadmill this week at PT. He is becoming quite a feisty little guy. He's learning to hit and hearing the word "NO" a lot more from me. He also puts up quite a fight when Robin is stretching him during therapy. But with that he's getting stronger and more mobile. He got his AFO on Friday and it should give him a little more support when he's standing/walking.
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| Dominic's AFO. Short enough that he can move around but gives just enough ankle support |
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| The man eating breakfast rockin' his new footwear |
Mike was supposed to be gone this weekend but with all the snow, he's staying around here. Which is a good thing, since I was layed up on the couch all day yesterday with the flu. Dominic may be getting more of a 'tude, but at least he entertained himself in his jumparoo for two hours yesterday so I could nap while Mitchell was at school. I'm definitely looking forward to a low-key weekend at home with my boys :o)
