Monday, May 10, 2004

Just a quick update to let you know how Jenelle is doing. So far, we haven't seen a grand mal since UCLA… then again, the teething has died down a bit, so we're positive that played a part in bringing on the grand mal in the first place. Friday, Jenelle had a follow up visit with her Ophthalmologist Dr. Ching. According to Dr. Ching, Jenelle's eyes and vision are "normal" and she is far sighted. We talked about her failure to track objects and reach for or hold items in front of her. He finally gave her an official diagnosis of "Cortical Blindness". Basically, Cortical Blindness, often referred to as CVI (cortical visual impairment), means that the brain is not telling the eyes how to respond properly to what it sees. With a "normal" brain, Jenelle would properly track things and would perhaps reach for toys and/or other objects. Dr. Ching suggested we talk with Jenelle's Neurologist about how to work with this, and I've heard from parents that some vision therapy may be necessary.