Silas' MRI and results

Silas had a brain MRI last week. It was a long time at the hospital, it took about five hours. Silas behaved very well and got many compliments from the nurses on how adorable he is. Before they came to take him back, Silas snuggled into me very close. I am grateful that despite all of the issues he does have, Silas is very attached to me. The MRI went well. When they brought him back, he slept for a few minutes. After he woke up a little bit, I asked him if he wanted to snuggle and he said yes. After a minute or two he was sound asleep on my shoulder. This was pure heaven for me. Silas is always on the go, so he never falls asleep in my arms.




Waiting in the room.


Waiting to go back.


Waking up.


Still waking up.


Wagon ride to the van.

We got the results from the MRI from Silas's doctor. There is no visible evidence of fetal alcohol syndrome from the brain MRI. This means that Silas has fetal alcohol effects (FAE) instead of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

There is another test that they can do where they ask Silas questions and when he answers them, parts of his brain will light up so they can see if his brain is working properly. But I don't think he is old enough to do that test as of yet. Mainly because he still does not answer questions correctly such as, How old are you? And Silas will answer, My name is Silas! And so it goes.

What does FAS vs FAE mean? Well, I am not an expert in this area other than the fact that I have three children that deal with this. Iryna has FAS, Silas has FAE, and Calvin has minor FAE as well. FAS is much more severe than FAE. Iryna has a low IQ and struggles a lot with impulsivity, is very oral (seeks out toys to suck on), is destructive, has slurred speech, hurts others, and struggles to follow directions. Silas does not seem to have a low IQ and Calvin seems to have a very good IQ. Silas struggles with being impulsive, has slurred speech, hurts others, and is also destructive. Calvin seems to struggle making good decisions without adult supervision.

This is Silas singing: HEAVENLY FATHER, ARE YOU REALLY THERE? It is sweet hearing his little voice sing. You can definitely hear the slurring of his pronunciation (effects of FAE). He is a sweet boy.