Visit to the Neurologist

(This is a follow-up to a previous post, so scroll down if you'd like to read them in chronological order)

First thing Wednesday morning, the neurologist's receptionist called to set up our appointment. But first, she said, Zach needed to have another EEG. She got one scheduled for the next day. Zach was supposed to be sleep-deprived by about 4 hours, so that night, he got to stay up until midnight, and then I had to get him up at 6 am. Staying up wasn't a problem, but getting both of us up sure was!

Keeping him awake proved difficult on the ride there, too. I slid the passenger seat back as far as it would go and put his booster seat there in front so I could tickle him as needed.

There was a mix-up with our appointment, and then we had to wait for quite a while. As we waited, I was afraid we'd miss them calling our name as we wandered the hospital, trying to tend to everyone's needs for bathrooms, bottles, and drinking fountains. Finally someone led us through halls and up elevators and through more twists and turns until we arrived at the sleep study wing. I got Zach settled on a bed with his CARS blanket and the UFO he'd built at Lowe's. Then the EEG technician shooed the rest of us out so she could hook up all the electrodes to his head. She said we'd be a distraction. We were taken to another room where Jared and Luke could watch cartoons. Not too long after that, though, Zach asked for me, so I was allowed to be with him again.

They use a sort of "sandpaper" gel on a q-tip to rough up the area where the electrode will stick. Zach doesn't like that part one bit. Then a scoop of some white goo sticks the electrode to his scalp. When they were all attached, the technician wrapped his head and chin with gauze to hold the wires in place.


She was expecting a very grumpy, cranky boy, so she was very impressed with how good Zach was for her. He really is a sweetheart when he wants to be!

Then she told him to close his eyes and she left the room. He kept peeking at me and smiling, which I'm sure she saw on her closed-circuit TV. But eventually, he drifted off to sleep. That was the point of the sleep-deprivation.

Of course, a sleep deprived 4 year old means there's a sleep-deprived mom, too, and I about dozed off, too.

All too soon, the test was over, and the technician came back in to wake Zach up. "Good luck with that!" I said. He's hard to wake up on a good day, and a 10-minute nap when he was short 4 hours of sleep was just not going to cut it. Nothing was working until I told her she'd have to tickle him. Sure enough, that did the trick.

Zach's hair was a mess after she pulled the electrodes and wiped the goo off his head. It was a cute mess, though.

As I was instructed, I called the neurologist's office when we were done. They were squeezing us into a packed schedule on the fly. She said to come "a-runnin'." I asked her how to get there, and she told me to go across the street and find suite 201. So I did. And there wasn't a 201. She'd meant across the driveway, not the street, so I was way off. Then we found the right building, but it's a maze! We asked at the front desk, where they told us that to go up in an elevator, instead of down, we had to use the elevator in the parking garage. So we did. Then we went up some ramps, then down some ramps, the through a curved hallway to a big open area. I could not find 201! I thought I'd blown it, that we'd missed our chance to see him that day, but when we finally arrived all red in the face and sweaty, the neurologist had gone over to the hospital to read Zach's EEG and would see us soon.

The boys were tired of being quiet and good, and they were hungry to boot, so they were bouncing off the walls of the exam room. The neurologist wasn't phased by it, and Zach thoroughly enjoyed his examination. He loved it last time, too, when his pediatrician played similar "games" with him. He had to touch his nose and then the doctor's finger, hop on one foot three times, and other silly things. He passed with flying colors.

Then came the neurologist's opinion. He said that the EEG was totally normal, and he has no idea what's causing the seizures. He said that's good news, because if he could tell me what caused them, it would be bad news. After his first seizure, there was a 72% chance that he'd never have one again. But since he did, he has ~54% chance of having a third. If he does, we're just to wait it out, then put him to bed so he can sleep it off. We don't have to go to the ER anymore. But we will have to take him back in to the neurologist, who will prescribe anti-seizure medication for a year or two. That's because if he has a third seizure, the likelihood of more seizures jumps to over 90%.

It's strange that not knowing what's wrong is actually good. But we're very relieved that it's not epilepsy, and that he's not doomed to more of these scary episodes.

On the way home, we decided to stop at Wendy's for some much-needed food. But when I pulled into the parking lot and went to put my keys in my purse, I remembered that I'd forgotten it at home! I can't believe I had remembered everything for the boys, but had forgotten my own purse. So we had to skip the fast food and go home. Zach and Luke fell asleep in the car, so I put them to bed. Jared and I scarfed down some blueberry muffins left over from breakfast, then I fell into bed, too.

I'm still very shaken up by all of this. It's not logical. My brain tells me that he's fine, but my nerves are braced for my little boy to fall over and start shaking again. I freak out when I see him doing a face-down float in swimming lessons, or when he's trying to swim on his own. When Jared was at the same stage of learning to swim, we used to joke he looked like he was having a seizure. It was funny then, but it sure isn't funny now! Zach really does look like he could be having a seizure.

I was all strung out for about two weeks after his first seizure. I wonder how long it will last this time, since I know his chances of having another are nearly doubled. It also doesn't help that we're having a hard time finding a babysitter who we feel confident can handle a seizure should Zach have one while we're not home. I've had two girls say they're too scared to babysit for us anymore.

I know it will all blow over and life will go back to normal. I need to take Jared back-to-school shopping soon. My boys certainly don't let me dwell on anything too long. But in the meantime, I just feel wiped out!

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers in Zach's behalf. We're so blessed that his seizures happened in safe places and at the perfect time for me to have help when I needed it most. And we're so blessed to have that wonderful, healthy boy in our lives.