Our beautiful daughter has Epilepsy. I refused to believe it at first, but couldn’t dispute that the squiggly lines on the electroencephalography monitor were indicative of a life threatening seizure disorder. After a year of tweaking her meds, we were thankfully able to control her seizures and Avery has been footloose and (nearly) seizure free for over a year now. Though she still has the occasional absence seizure, the BIG ONES seems to be a distant memory.
So as pediatric neurology dictates, Avery goes into hospital as an outpatient for an
EEG to get a look at what’s going on in her little blonde head.
Patients must remain still and be completely relaxed for this test. Um, this patient is five and a little monkey; hence the fact that she will need to be sedated. Can they sedate me too ’cause every time she goes under I want to barf. If you ask me, there’s nothing “general” about general anesthesia. There are risks and the possibility of very real complications…especially with a medically complicated child like ours.
Alas, in order to get a proper reading she needs to be asleep. She also needs to be sleep deprived in order to trigger potential sinister brain spikes. So tonight, we will stay up ’til midnight. Have you ever tried to keep a sleepy child awake well past the witching hour? It’s not easy and frankly it makes me feel like a jerk. Mind you, I’ll feel like more of a jerk when I have to wake her at 5 am. Depriving a child of sleep or anything else for that matter is not for the faint of heart. It’s a shame they don’t need ME to be sleep deprived because I have that covered.
Hopefully they won’t see any unruly brainwaves and the seizures have vanished into the dark, dark night, never to be seen again. Though, this will mean weaning our babe off the anti-seizure meds. That prospect scares the beejesus out of me too…*Addendum: The report showed “moderate seizure activity” so on the meds we stay until the next test (in another year or two).
* Addendum addendum (is that even a thing? It’s now March 20th, 2013. The next test is scheduled for next week…)
Related:
EEGee
Seizure Salad
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[…] was tested a few years ago and the results showed “moderate seizure activity” despite having relatively few physical […]
[…] Our beautiful daughter has Epilepsy. I refused to believe it at first, but couldn’t dispute that the squiggly lines on the electroencephalography monitor were indicative of a life threatening seizure disorder. After a year of tweaking her meds, we were thankfully able to control her seizures and Avery has been footloose and (nearly) seizure free for over a year now. Though she still has the occasional absence seizure, the BIG ONES seems to be a distant memory. Read more… […]