EEG

Thank you all for your prayers for Monkey (and me!) yesterday... and for putting up with my multiple Facebook posts... and your patience with my lack of an actual update. It was a long day, but overall it went well.

Monkey had a hard time waking up at 3 AM, and really didn't get up until about 4. I picked him up from his bed and carried him to the (finished) basement to watch some TV, but he just curled up on my lap and slept for another 45 minutes or so. Eventually, though, he roused and watched television until everybody else was up and getting ready.

On the ride to the doctor's office, though, he was starting to fade. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw his eyelids fluttering. I called out, "Let's play a game!" in some sing-song, fake-high-energy voice that was totally not me. Maybe it's because my eyelids were feeling a little heavy too. But we both stayed awake (whew!) and got to the appointment on time... which turned out to be a mistake, because we sat in the waiting room for an HOUR before they were ready for us. Apparently the first appointment had run long, and now they were backed up. Oy vey. Thank God for technology--Monkey and I must have been quite a site, sitting there with an iPad, iPhone, and Kindle Fire between the two of us...!

Anyway, the EEG itself went fine. He took some stuffed animals along to snuggle (I had to cut him off at three--he had 5 with him in the van, but two were forced to stay behind and stand guard.), and was asleep within minutes. In fact, the hardest part was waking him up!

Afterward we had another long wait, as the doctor had gone to the adjoining Children's Hospital for rounds. So we spent another HOUR getting our screen time for the month (seriously, 3 AM to 7 AM, then an hour in the waiting room, and now this? No wonder Monkey thought it was the "greatest day ever!")

Basically, here's what we found out: not much. Monkey had a seizure during the test, but not one that was physically noticeable. The doctor assured me (and previous experience with nieces and nephews has taught me) that this is not uncommon, although he was suprised by the location of the seizure. He said that kids who get migraines (which he suspects Monkey has) usually have seizures in the very front or very back of the brain, but that his was "deep inside" the brain. I have no idea what that may indicate. But the bottom line is, he doesn't feel that we need to do anything more at this time. As I said before, Monkey hasn't had a headache since school let out last week, so I am really thinking that it's an environmental cause (like the fluorescent lights are bothering his sensitive eyes). For the time being, we're just going to keep his headache journal (which we started back in April) close by and monitor. As long as he doesn't have noticeable seizures or major headaches, we're just going to keep an eye on him. The doctor did give us a sheet about an elimination diet we can try, but he said that it is only effective in about 10% of cases--and again, since he's not having headaches right now, it seems like a silly thing to try. How would we know if it's working? So for now we're just going to hold tight.

I have mixed feelings about this, honestly. I'm glad to know that there is nothing majorly concerning going on in his brain... but I'm a girl who likes answers. WHY is he having headaches, and more importantly, WHAT are we going to do about it? The doctor had initially recommended an MRI as the next step, but given the cost of the test (we have a tremendous deductible, so we would end up paying for the whole thing) and the current level of concern, he suggested we wait and see if it becomes necessary. It's a good decision, but a hard one for this mama who just wants results.

So thanks again for your prayers and for the texts and e-mails and all of the follow-up. Y'all are the best.

And now I'm going to try to catch up on some sleep. :-)