Jenelle's Journey

We had our initial meeting and evaulation with our Case Worker for Regional Center. She was very frank and honest, and also encouraging at the same time.

Jenelle's biggest problem at this point is her inability to use the right side of her body. We never even realized it, but she even tilts her head to the left and not the right. She has little strength in her right arm and hand, and appears to have pain when we turn her head in that direction. The encouraging news is that it just could be caused by poor muscle tone. In her early months, she may have tried to turn to that side or do things with her right hand, but because it was too difficult, she gave up, hence why she doesn't use it much and favors her left side. Since our visit with the Pediatrician, both Brett and I have been working with her to get her to support herself on her legs. She is improving, which is also encouraging in that we can work on a problem area, and she shows improvement.

Although she doesn't follow a rattle, or turn to the sound of noise, the intake person did feel that she can see and hear. She noticed Jenelle's eyes follow my voice, but she has difficulty straining her head to see me (I was sitting on her right side) Again, the encouraging part of this is that because of low muscle tone, she just could be giving up on trying to grab things or turn to sounds simply because it is too difficult for her. That can be improved with muscle tone.

Overall, she definitely felt that we can get Jenelle into physical therapy for an initial evaulation as soon as May 13, 2001. She was also very frank with us and said Jenelle's symptoms appear to be similar to Cerebral Palsy. That of course is just her opinion, and there are lots of tests to take before we make that diagnosis, only a neurologist can tell for sure. So we have a long way to go. She also stressed that we should try to push to get the neurological evaluation quicker!

We are waiting for our Neurological authorization, and an appointment with the Neurologist.