Saturday, April 18, 2015

Diagnosis

After the initial leg jerk was felt, my initial reaction was to text a friend of mine who is a doctor.  I asked her if she thought it could be a seizure, and she said it was unlikely, so I quickly put the idea to back of my mind.  I have a healthy baby, of course I am neurotic, there is no way she is having a seizure.  On Monday night, again after Sonya finished feeding I felt the same leg jerk and immediately took out my phone to record what she was doing.  I then called her pediatricians office and headed over to Phoenix Children's ER.  

Everyone was so pleased I had taken a video.  We were admitted by the morning and they did so many tests.  A 30 minute EEG (results normal), MRI (results normal), another Spinal Tap (Results normal), blood work, blood cultures, they literally ran the gamut of testing (all of which ended up normal).  A neurologist came up to her room and we discussed going into the PEMU (Pediatric Epilepsy Monitoring Unit) for 24-48 hour monitoring.  

"If there is seizure activity, it will make itself known"

Wednesday morning, Sonya was hooked up to the EEG and the waiting began. 10:26am, the first time I hit the seizure button.  The bright lights of the room flash on, 5 nurses rush in, the clock is watched, the seconds are counted, and we wait for the seizure to end.  During this time, I do what I am supposed to, I watch the clock, I count the seconds, I put my hands on my baby and let her know I am there for her, and she will be ok.  Then it stops, and she recovers, and she cries a cry that would break the heart of someone who doesn't like children....and I cry too.  


11:26, it happens again, and 12:26pm it happens, like clockwork....and now I dread as it nears the half hour mark.  The seizures are confirmed, and medication will begin...and as we wait for the medication, we wait for another seizure.  Sonya has epilepsy.


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