It was just a regular follow-up appointment with Taylor's Neurologist. I think it's the first appointment where I haven't really had any questions for him. He loves questions. But Taylor is doing so well. She's stable, seizures are still at bay, and she's made such beautiful strides developmentally, that I didn't have anything big to ask him today.
I've asked the big questions already, several times over the past three years. Will she sit? Will she walk? Will she talk? The answers are never what I would like them to be in a perfect world. He's never confidently said yes, she will. But he's always been optimistic and encouraging that maybe one day it's possible.
Today though, I didn't ask any of those questions. She's sitting. It started back in October when she held herself unassisted one day for 8 seconds. Since then, whether she'd hold herself when you put her in a sitting position has been pretty random and inconsistent, but it's becoming more and more consistent. When you sit her up now and let go, she almost always holds herself for a certain amount of time. Sometimes just 30 seconds, often at least a minute, and occasionally up to three and a half minutes. I couldn't wait for Taylor to show off her sitting for Dr. Bello. He came into the office, I sat her up on the examining table, let go and she sat for a good minute before she lost her balance. He was beside himself, thrilled to see her accomplishment. I told him that mid-March she started saying "bababa", her very first consonant sound. He looked at me and asked if I fainted!
Somewhere between him raving about these accomplishments and how he has NEVER seen the kind of improvement she has had with seizure control, he said it...
"I think Taylor will walk in a year".
Pardon me? Did you just say what I think you said? YES, he thinks she could walk in a year {insert tears here}!!! The happiest tears ever.
He said that with her myelination progressing, her development is progressing, she's starting to sit and in a year or so she could walk. Myelination is the coating or insulation around nerve cells in the brain (white matter). It is an important part of the maturation of the brain that is required for the development of cognitive, motor and sensory functions.
Now, I'm not putting all my eggs in the 'walking' basket, and I'm not going to hold Dr. Bello to his predictions either!
But I am hopeful. I am encouraged. I am one proud Mama.
