Saturday, March 14, 2009

White Matter - why it matters

So we had 2 more neurology appointments this week and found out a little more info. Apparently Cicily has no white matter. I asked the doctor how she's able to do anything at all without any white matter and he basically said what they see on the MRI doesn't really add up with what Cicily is doing (average mental capabilities, crawling, signing, etc.). The other neurologist said that newborns can't do anything but flail around and cry because they don't have any white matter in their brains. So basically Cis should act like a newborn; but she doesn't?!? We're of course, not sure why or what this means, but we'll gladly accept it.
It is also clear that Cicily never developed myelination. Her status can't really deteriorate, because as Chris put it, you can't get any worse than zero!
I also wanted to make clear that hypomyelination does not occur with Treacher Collins Syndrome - ever (that anyone knows about). However, we've always been skeptical that Cis has TCS as her genetic tests come back without the TCS gene change and her facial appearance is slightly different from classic TCS. The 3 geneticists we've seen feel TCS is still the best fit for her though, and we agree. I've wondered if Cicily's body may have some protein issues that affect both her TCS characteristics and her hypomyelination, as they both can be caused by proteins not working correctly. We're still doing the spinal tap on the 30th and the neuro-genetics docs are getting back to us on what tests they want to do - genetic, metabolic, fatty acid chains were mentioned.
We are very glad to be working with good neurologists and a geneticist who all seem to be very intrigued by Cis' mysterious, unheard of combination of characteristics. So far they are all doing their research to try and solve the puzzle. We hope they continue to be interested! Chris hopes Cis makes it into some medical journals as "patient A".

4 comments:

Teri said...

This is all very intriguing! How you hanging in there? It can be so frustrating I bet to not really "know" anything. She sounds like everything she is doing is a miracle though!

shannon said...

So Chris to even think of her in medical journals as "patient A"..that cracked me up. I'm with Teri on the rest though..sounds like she's a little miracle girl. Go Cicily! I hope all goes well, and things can get figured out. Good luck...I'll keep praying for you guys/

Grubbs Familly said...

Your optimism is truly inspiring. I love you guys!

Robin said...

Janalyn, this is such a whole new ballgame than what you've been learning about Treacher Collins. I hope everything goes well on the 30th. We are thinking of you all and wishing the best for Cicily.
Love,
Robin and family, especially Faith!