Understanding Khloe...

Khloe may have Cerebral Palsy...but Cerebral Palsy does NOT have her.

Tonight i wanted to give everyone a little more information about Cerebral Palsy, as i have realized that not too many people are sure of what it actually is..so here is some info i got from United Cerebral Palsy that will hopefully help you understand a little more about Khloe's condition. After you read all of this info, i talked a little about Khloe's personal diagnosis, so you can better understand what her journey may be like. I also added some extra quick facts at the end. Sorry if this entry is boring!!

Cerebral Palsy is a broad term used to describe a group of chronic movement or posture disorders. “Cerebral” refers to the brain, while “Palsy” refers to a physical disorder, such as a lack of muscle control. Cerebral Palsy is not caused by problems with the muscles or nerves, but rather with the brain’s ability to adequately control the body. Cerebral Palsy can be caused by injury during birth, although sometimes it is the result of later damage to the brain. Symptoms usually appear in the first few years of life and once they appear, they generally do not worsen over time. Disorders are classified into four categories:

Spastic (difficult or stiff movement)

Ataxic (loss of depth perception and balance)

Athetoid/Dyskinetic (uncontrolled or involuntary movements)

Mixed (a mix of two or more of the above)

Cerebral Palsy is a painful diagnosis to hear. It is also a medical condition that confuses parents and doctors alike. However, after thorough testing, a doctor should be able to tell you the “type” of Cerebral Palsy your child has. The classification depends on the severity of her limitations, as well as what parts of her body and brain are affected.

Below are the basic categories of Cerebral Palsy:

Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Spastic Cerebral Palsy is the most common diagnosis. If your child’s CP is “spastic,” her muscles are rigid and jerky, and she has difficulty getting around. There are three types of spastic Cerebral Palsy:

Spastic diplegia — Your child’s leg and hip muscles are tight, and his legs cross at the knees, making it difficult to walk. This kind of movement is frequently referred to as “scissoring.”

Spastic hemiplegia — Only one side of your child’s body is stiff. Her arms or hands might be more affected than her legs. On the affected side, her arm and leg may not develop normally. She may also require leg braces.

Spastic quadriplegia — The severest of the three, spastic quadriplegia means that your child is more likely to have mental retardation if diagnosed as quadriplegia. His legs, arms, and body are affected. It will be difficult for him to walk and talk, and he may also experience seizures.

Athetoid Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy

Athetoid dyskinetic is the second most frequently diagnosed type of Cerebral Palsy. Your child will have normal intelligence, but her body will be totally affected by muscle problems. Her muscle tone can be weak or tight, and she might have trouble walking, sitting, or speaking clearly. She may also have trouble controlling her facial muscles and therefore drool.

Ataxic Cerebral Palsy

This is the least diagnosed type of Cerebral Palsy. Your child will have trouble tying his shoes, buttoning his shirt, cutting with scissors, and doing other tasks that require fine motor skills. He might walk with his feet farther apart than normal and have trouble with his balance and coordination. Your child may also suffer from “intention tremors,” a shaking that begins with a voluntary movement. For example, your child may reach for a toy, and then his hand and arm will start to shake. As he gets closer to the toy, the tremor worsens.

Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy

Unlike with other types of CP, you will notice that your baby has muscle control problems early in life. Her head seems floppy, and she will not be able to control it when sitting up. Her motor skills will be developmentally delayed.

It is suspected that this type of Cerebral Palsy is caused by brain damage or malformations that occur while a baby’s brain is still developing.

Mixed Cerebral Palsy

If your child does not “fit” into one of the above diagnoses, your doctor will consider him “mixed.” This is quite common.

Congenital Cerebral Palsy

If your child is diagnosed with congenital Cerebral Palsy, be aware that this is not a “type” of palsy, but rather it is a term meaning “birth defect.” In other words, your child’s doctor is saying that he developed Cerebral Palsy during development. It is not a condition that your child inherited from you or your husband or partner. And it is not caused by a medical error.

Erb’s Palsy

If any type of Cerebral Palsy can be attributed to a birthing accident, it is Erb’s palsy (brachial plexus palsy). According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke:

Although injuries can occur at any time, many brachial plexus injuries happen when a baby’s shoulders become impacted during delivery and the brachial plexus nerves stretch or tear.

If your baby has Erb’s palsy, he will have no muscle control in his arm; the arm will be limp and have no feeling.

Based on the nerve area that is affected, there are four types of Erb’s Palsy:

Avulsion — the nerve completely separates from the spine.

Rupture — the nerve is torn throughout but not from the spine.

Praxis/stretch — the nerve is damaged but not torn and could heal on its own.

Neuroma — scar tissue from an injury puts pressure on the nerve.

So now...after you have taken in all those little facts about the different types of CP-- I can share with you Khloe's diagnosis and hopefully you can better understand what we are dealing with and what she will be overcoming...

Khloe has Mixed Cerebral Palsy. Her condition is known as 

"Spastic quadriplegia Ataxic Cerebral Palsy"  As i said before, the severity is still unknown. Khloe's Cerebellum is still developing. Things will not get better from here, but can get worse until her cerebellum is fully developed which will be at 18-24months. Once she reaches that age, her condition will never get worse. This is not something that will shorten her life span. There is no cure for her condition. Khloe is not currently showing signs of being behind mentally. With her diagnosis, mental delays are common, but would have been noticed already. We are very thankful that she is happy, and healthy. While i know reading this seems overwhelming, I just wanted to remind you all, she is still the same little girl as she was before this diagnosis. I wanted to put this information out there because a lot of people have been asking me what exactly Cerebral Palsy is, and how Khloe is being affected by it. 

Thank you all for your concerns. I hope you learned something new about CP!!! 

here are some more facts about CP:

 

20% of children diagnosed with congenital cerebral palsy developed CP due to a brain injury during the birthing process.

 

Approx. 765,000 children and adults in the United States manifest one or more of the signs of cerebral palsy.

 

8,000 - 10,000 babies and infants are diagnosed annually with cerebral palsy.

 

Cerebral palsy is identified in 1,200 - 1,500 preschool age children each year.

 

Cerebral palsy is the second most common neurological impairment in childhood.

 

Spasticity of one or more limbs is the most common disability now associated with new cases of cerebral palsy.

 

45% of children with cerebral palsy also develop mild or severe epilepsy.

 

Of congenital disorders, CP has the highest life-term costs per new case,average monetary lifetime expense of living with cerebral palsy is approximately $921,000 more than a person living without CP.

 

The degree of disability with CP is: mild (24.9%), moderate (43.8%), and severe (31.3%).

The motor disability is: diplegia (36%), hemiplegia (20.5%), and quadriplegia (40.5%). 

 

59% of families with a CP child have an income of less than $30,000 per year. The child's medical care costs are assisted by Medicaid in 63% of families. 

 

84.5%  of children with cerebral palsy receive physical therapy 6 times a month, 50% receive occupational therapy about 5 times a month and 37% see a speech therapist about 5 times a month.

 

A twin pregnancy results in a child with cerebral palsy 12 times more often than a singleton pregnancy. This is generally due to low birth weight and prematurity associated with twins.

 

Swedish data indicate that 36% of infants with CP were born at less than 28 weeks gestational age, 25% at 28-32 weeks, 2.5% at 33-38 weeks, and 37% at term (40 weeks)