seizures Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Forever In Mom Genes

Warning: This Post May Put You To Sleep….

Apr 09 2013

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated. Nothin’ to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated… To clarify, The Ramones want to be sedated. I do not. At all. In fact, the idea of being sedated seriously freaks me out. I’m not talking about urban legend scenarios where you’re put under at the dentist and wake up with your shirt on backwards. I’m talking about the real fear of being unconscious while somebody else monitors your breathing and heart rate. That’s some kind of scary. The only thing scarier is having to sedate your child. Especially when your child has underlying medical conditions that make anesthesia more risky. In order to perform an EEG on our daughter last week she needed to be asleep. Not fully knocked out, but soundly asleep. She also needed to be sufficiently sleep deprived to elicit the disorganized brain chaos necessary to reveal any abnormal brain waves lurking about. Our neurologist suggested using Chloral Hydrate the morning of the procedure to sedate. We’ve used this drug before without any problems. However, after doing some research into Long QT Syndrome (a potentially serious heart condition our daughter is being monitored[…]

Apr 08 2013

Have you ever looked at your child and asked, “What is going inside that head of yours?” Apparently there’s a way to find out. Just hook up them to tangle of rainbow coloured wires and take a gander at their brain waves… Avery has been having seizures since she was three years old. This is attributed in some way to her genetic disorder. Luckily for us, we have found the perfect balance of medications and outside of a few minor absence seizures, she has been seizure free for nearly two years. She was tested a few years ago and the results showed “moderate seizure activity” despite having relatively few physical symptoms. So now it’s time again; the neurologist scheduled another peek via EEG. If no seizure activity is present, he will wean her off the anti seizure meds. This is both thrilling and terrifying… “But, what if her seizures come back?!” I protested. “She’s fine on the meds. Can’t we just wait a little longer?” “We need to give her a chance,” he told me. “You don’t keep someone on medication if they don’t need it.” He’s right. I may not like it, but this is what happens now.[…]

Jul 28 2011

With a relatively sleepless night under our belts, we headed to today’s early morning EEG appointment. The nurses were appropriately impressed by the dark shadows the little patient was wearing under her eyes like a badge of honour. Being sufficiently sleep deprived allowed the oral sedative called Chloral Hydrate to take effect quickly. Once fully asleep, the lab technician took head measurements to map crucial attachment points for the leads and started the test. The reading took about thirty minutes. We watched as brainwaves traveled across the monitor. Some left a smooth, even trail, while some lines were wildly jagged. The sudden flickers made me wonder, “Was that a seizure or an innocent dream?” Maybe we were witnessing memories being relived or new skills being rehearsed before our eyes? When Avery woke up she offered groggy hugs to mummy and daddy and a raspy “Bank you” to the nurse. We’re home now cuddled in bed watching Dora and getting ready for a well deserved nap. The neurologist will read the results and give us a call.

Jul 28 2011

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[…]

Jan 16 2011

Our daughter had a sleep study last week in hopes of getting to the bottom of why she has such a difficult time staying asleep. When we arrived at the Sleep Lab, Avery was happy to be there. I suppose there’s a certain air of excitement—new environment, friendly faces, lots of attention, rubber gloves. She was rigged with wires glued to her head and bands strapped around her tiny chest. And after some cuddle time and several rounds of ad-libbed lullabies sung horribly wrong by yours truly, she went to sleep like the little trooper she is. She was in a narrow bed, HIGH up off the hard floor and I told the technician I was concerned about her waking in the night and bolting as I slept unaware in my bed, aka petrified log with a whisper of a blanket and imagining of a pillow. Jeremy the tech guy told me “to relax” (Oh now I love it when people say that) and that they’ve never had any problems. He’d be watching on the monitor though just in case. Flash forward to 12:10 a.m…. Hellooooo bolter! The next two hours were your basic gong show. Avery wanted out of that bed and[…]

Category - seizures

Warning: This Post May Put You To Sleep….

A Peek Inside Her Head

EEGee

Brain Waving

Sleep Studies Are Tiring!