You got a lot of nerve!

I don't have the nerves for this. 

We knew the nerve damage was bad, we knew her legs didn't "work" like others, we even knew that she would always have trouble with her legs. We didn't know how much damage though, we needed to know if she could feel, if the brain signals were reaching her legs, and which nerves were working and which ones weren't. 

I introduce you to the NCV or Nerve Conduction Velocity test. 

A nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test - also called a nerve conduction study (NCS) - measures how fast an electrical impulse moves through hour nerve. NCV can identify nerve damage. During the test, your nerve is stimulated, usually with electrode patches attached to your skin. (Hopkins, 2021) www.hopkinsmedicine.org 

A test that literally shoots electric shock impulses through the skin to see which nerves react and how much damage there is. I know what you're thinking, because I was thinking it too. You're brain just said "wait, so..." Yes, electricity to my baby's legs. I don't have the nerves for this. 

The test began with a local anesthetic given to her legs. They needed a ground base to determine her normal nerve function. I was O.K. with that because it meant she wouldn't feel it, BUT, it would wear off and she would feel the next part. 

I know as parents we all want to take any and all pain that our children would ever feel, anything from a paper cut to a bike fall. We'd take the pain, well, I don't know about paper cuts, those things HURT! LOL. The point is though that the thought of our babies going through pain puts us in a lot of pain and we'd do anything to prevent them from getting hurt. 

My parenting skills were about to be put to the test. I would have to hold my baby girl down while they sent electrical impulses to her legs. It was gonna hurt and the face that she would see would be mine. It was a necessary evil, we had to know just how damaged  the nerves were. I held her tight and prayed so hard that it would be over quickly and that it would provide us with the necessary information. It was over in a blink or at least it felt like that, God was there holding both of us because just like us, he is a parent and doesn't want us to feel pain. He would've taken our pain if he could. 

The test was over and the sweet volunteers at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital stitched Valencia a beautiful quilt that I quickly wrapped her up in and held her tight to calm her down. A week later we got the results, the doctor informed us that the test was a success but the damage was extensive, it was as though someone took a knife to her nerves and cut them off from the thigh down. She could feel touches, pain and numbness. Some nerve signals could through but not all and that is where our journey continues.