gcvmom
Here we go again!
now it looks like difficult child 2 has a movement disorder -- a "chorea" of some type. He's getting an MRI and bloodwork next week to rule out things like Wilson disease, Sydenham's chorea, cerebellar lesions to name a few.
He's always had problems with jerky hand motions -- even back to when he was in preschool. Everyone I've ever asked about it has given me the brush-off -- blamed it on low blood sugar, or musculo-skeletal problems (scapular winging), or ADHD medications (but this started way before he started those medications. And his fidgetiness and jerkiness actually got worse on stimulants, whereas in difficult child 1, more stims meant a quieter, calmer kid.
So at the urging of a neuropsychologist I met last week (who's going to conduct whatever assessments the school district doesn't use for his IEP so that he has a more complete neuropsychologist evaluation) I took difficult child 2 to see this pediatric neurologist today. Turns out, he also trained under the neuro who found husband's cavernoma (he's two weeks post-craniotomy and doing okay now).
Some of the causes of chorea are Strep A infection (which can also lead to rheumatic fever -- but that doesn't exactly match... although he's going to be tested for strep antibodies), and interestingly enough, jaundice, which he did have as a newborn. Apparently jaundice can cause permanent damage to the basal ganglia which can cause this type of movement problem....
I swear this had better be the LAST medical problem for our family to deal with for a LONG time... or I just might snap.
I know I'm rambling a bit here... just so much crap I've dealt with in the past two years between difficult child 1's Crohn's diagnosis, difficult child 2's mood disorder diagnosis, and husband's brain cavernoma diagnosis and recent surgery. My head's spinning... just poured a nice glass of wine, so I think I'm done for the night.
He's always had problems with jerky hand motions -- even back to when he was in preschool. Everyone I've ever asked about it has given me the brush-off -- blamed it on low blood sugar, or musculo-skeletal problems (scapular winging), or ADHD medications (but this started way before he started those medications. And his fidgetiness and jerkiness actually got worse on stimulants, whereas in difficult child 1, more stims meant a quieter, calmer kid.
So at the urging of a neuropsychologist I met last week (who's going to conduct whatever assessments the school district doesn't use for his IEP so that he has a more complete neuropsychologist evaluation) I took difficult child 2 to see this pediatric neurologist today. Turns out, he also trained under the neuro who found husband's cavernoma (he's two weeks post-craniotomy and doing okay now).
Some of the causes of chorea are Strep A infection (which can also lead to rheumatic fever -- but that doesn't exactly match... although he's going to be tested for strep antibodies), and interestingly enough, jaundice, which he did have as a newborn. Apparently jaundice can cause permanent damage to the basal ganglia which can cause this type of movement problem....
I swear this had better be the LAST medical problem for our family to deal with for a LONG time... or I just might snap.
I know I'm rambling a bit here... just so much crap I've dealt with in the past two years between difficult child 1's Crohn's diagnosis, difficult child 2's mood disorder diagnosis, and husband's brain cavernoma diagnosis and recent surgery. My head's spinning... just poured a nice glass of wine, so I think I'm done for the night.