Thursday, March 5

Several people have asked how Lexi's Cleveland Clinic appointment went so we thought we'd go ahead and blog again this week.

First, Lexi slept the entire way to Cleveland! This was a big improvement! She screamed the entire way home but at least we got some peace one way!

The neurologist did a lengthy exam with Lexi. The good news is that he has ruled out everything possible as far as a disease, etc that might be causing this cranial/facial nerve damage. He feels Lexi's current issues are related to her heart surgery. This is good news as this means 2 things- 1- it is hopeful that it will get better and 2- it is not going to get worse!

We feel Lexi has made huge improvements. Dr. Friedman feels she has made "some improvements" but has a long way to go to have normal facial function. He is estimating another 6-12 months minimum. He also said that many people as their nerves are regenerating tend to develop some "tics." He said the nerves sometimes don't connect quite right again. For example, some people will yawn and their eyes will blink rapidly. We hope this does not happen to Lexi as she begins to heal. The Dr. would like to see her back in 3 months and will most likely do another EMG on her at that point.

Please pray for Lexi's continued healing. This is going to be a longer road to recovery than we were hoping for. Pray for patience and encouraging moments for Jon and I.

Lexi has to be taught every simple thing- even things as basic as grasping a toy. Pray that we are able to balance our time working with Lexi and spending time with the twins (and that we might even be able to find some time for us!)

Thank you to everyone who asks us how Lexi is doing. Is is a huge encouragement to us to know that even though this is going to be a very long road, we have many people still interested AND praying for little Lexi!