The Skin Biopsy

Ryan's skin biopsy went well today.  He was very irritated that we woke him up, and he screamed about the numbing shot.  (Anyone who has ever had one of those shots can't blame him.)  They took a tiny bit of tissue from the back of his arm.  The good news is that the Dr anticipates the test results will be back within 4 weeks or so.  That is MUCH better than the 6-12 weeks we had been told it would take.

 (hmmm... awkward picture)

The other thing that I learned today which is really good news is that although this disease can affect any of the children in the family, it typically strikes at the same age within a family.  Thus, where Ryan was symptomatic at birth, it is unlikely that any of the other children will test positive for the disease.  They may test positive as carriers, but it is highly unlikely that they will test positive for the disease itself since none of them have exhibited any symptoms.  Whew!  That was a HUGE relief.

After the appointment, Ryan returned to his usual self.  You can see from the picture below his new hat device that the school OT came up with to help him keep his head up.  It's really quite brilliant! 

Well, Ryan was totally playing with me after his appointment today.  He seemed to think it was funny that he had figured out how to get his head out of the hat.  Smart boy.