Zane turned 1 year old this week and yesterday was his 1 year well check appointment. Going into this appointment Adam and I had talked about wanting to have him checked for Chiari. The reason we have been concerned about Zane has been grossly overshadowed by the recent events with Henley. However, we knew that this issued would be addressed at this appointment and so we chose the "cross that bridge when we get there" attitude. Since around December Zane has struggled with eating any foods with texture in them. He does fine with stage 2 baby foods and milk, but the second he tries to swallow anything with texture in it he throws up. Not just gagging, he throws up everything he has eaten within the prior 30 minutes. As if feeding all of our children was not difficult enough, I find myself crossing my fingers and holding my breath with every single bite I feed him. I certainly do not need any more vomit to clean up.
Because there is so much evidence that supports Chiari being genetic we have been cautiously aware of the fact that Zane might also have it. So at his appointment yesterday they began taking his measurements. His weight was 22.5 lbs! He has now passed up his sister in the weight department. His length was 29" which is exactly what Henley's was at a year and his head was 47.1 cm. Which is barely more than Henley's was at a year. When we put this stats on his individual growth chart everything looked normal except for his head. No surprise there in my opinion, but what was disturbing about it was the fact that his head had jumped significantly in size since his 9 month appointment. (Just like Henley's did). When the pediatrician came in we talked about everything and then she said. "Okay, lets talk about his head". Ugh. I always dread those words. She was concerned with the major jump in size from his last appointment. We talked about his eating. This was actually the third conversation we have had about his eating/throwing up since December. I had called her back in December to ask her if what he was doing was normal, and she said to just give him a couple more months to see if it got better and if it was just a learning curve to the new foods. After our discussion she felt like based on everything we know and what we are seeing in him, that it was probably a good idea to go ahead and do an MRI on him to see if he also has Chiari.
Sigh. After I left the appointment with our pediatrician I called Henley's neurosurgeon's office and spoke with the nurse to ask them what they thought and if there was any other imaging other than his brain that we needed to incorporate to give them the most information possible right out of the gate. The nurse agreed that given the circumstance and what they know about Chiari presenting itself in multiple family members that it was a good idea to get Zane imaged as soon as possible. She also told me that it would be a good idea to get images not only of his brain, but of his cervical spine as well. So, all that said Zane is scheduled for an MRI first thing Monday morning. 2 days from today.
Adam and I are doing okay. We are at peace with this decision and will both feel better when we know something for sure. We both feel like we can handle just about anything as long as we know what it is we are dealing with. Its the waiting for information that is hard for us. We know that again, just like before, that God has seen this day too and He already knows the answers. We know that He has a plan for our future and we will trust him in this moment too. Taking it one day at a time.