A long overdue update

I had been debating whether to start a new blog to document Vanya's progress, but I think we'll just go with this one. Vanya has been home a little over 3 months. During this time, I think we have seen every physician in the Birmingham metro area. Okay, not really, but we have seen a bunch. So, where are we?

Vanya was seen in the UAB International Adoption Clinic. All of his bloodwork, including genetic testing, came back NORMAL. He brought home a few parasite friends who have since been eradicated with flagyl. He had x-rays of his hips, legs, arms, and hands. He was seen by orthopedists both here in Birmingham and at Shriner's in Greenville. Vanya's missing leg and hand anomolies are most likely the result of amniotic banding. Basically, strings broke away from the amniotic sac and he got tangled up. These bands caused his leg and fingers to be amputated while he was inutero. The plan was for Vanya to be fitted with a prosthetic leg when he started pulling up to stand. He was also referred to the local Limb Deficiency Clinic run by Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. He was also referred for Early Intervention Services through Hand in Hand.

Vanya  had an MRI in August which confirmed part of what we had been told in Ukraine. Vanya does have damage to his brain related to his premature birth, specifically he has mild to lesser moderate periventricular leucomalacia (PVL). The most common sequelae of PVL is cerebral palsy. When Vanya was seen in the Limb Deficiency clinic in September, the rehab medicine doctor felt quite certain that he had right sided spastic hemiplegia. Because of this, he felt Vanya needed more intense PT as well as OT services. He is currently getting PT twice per week and will get OT twice per month.

The other big issue we have is vision. Vanya saw the opthamalogist in August and was diagnosed with optic nerve atrophy and cortical visual impairment. We have been diligently patching his eyes since then and I am please to report that at today's appointment, the doc said he saw some improvement. Yippee!!

In the 3 months since Vanya has been home, he has worked very hard and has made lots of gains. This was a kiddo who could barely hold up his head when we first met him. He now rolls easily front to back and back to front, commando crawls wherever he wants to go, and can prop sit for short periods of time. He is an absolute JOY!!! He wakes with a smile on his face and has the sweetest giggle ever.

I promise to do a better job with updates now that we are sorta caught up.