Abigail and the Neurologist

Kevin and I took Abigail to Bismarck today to see Dr. Siriwan, the pediatric neurologist – roads were perfect, sun was shining, Abigail was singing and talking to herself. In some people that’s a sign of senility…in Abigail, it is a sign of “normal.” :-) We got to the clinic exactly when we were supposed to, got checked in and filled out all of the paperwork, and got called back to an exam room at the exact time of our scheduled appointment. I appreciate punctuality in doctors!

Dr. Siriwan was nice. Here's one thing we now know:

Abigail had a complex-partial seizure. (This can’t actually be 100% confirmed, because no one was measuring her brain activity at the time, but Dr. Siriwan said SHE is as sure as she can be without having had electrodes on Abigail at the time.)

Here's what we don't know: what caused it. The CT scan was clear, which is very good. The hospital didn’t send the radiologist’s report on the MRI, so we don’t really know if there was anything in that test that would give any sort of answer…Dr. Siriwan looked at the MRI, but she said, “I’m not a radiologist, so I can’t really make a judgement. It looked fine to me…” HOWEVER – it is distorted because of Abigail’s braces! I did mention the braces to the technician before they started the test... I have to call the doctor here tomorrow to see if the radiologist gave any sort of report that wasn’t passed on to us or the neurologist.

What else we know: the EEG activity means that it could happen again. It could also NOT happen again – but the activity in the EEG is an indicator that it COULD. So we have a choice: put Abigail on seizure medication immediately, knowing that there’s actually a possibility that she could NEVER AGAIN have a seizure and therefore be taking unnecessary medication for 2 years (that’s how long she has to go without having another seizure before they’ll do another EEG to see if activity is ‘normal.’ If it is, then she’s considered “cured.” Cured of WHAT we’re just not sure…) OR wait to see if she has another seizure, and put her on medication at that time. Dr. Siriwan did warn that the next seizure, in this type of situation, tends to be a grand mal seizure.

We asked about side effects of whatever medication – I can’t remember right now what medication Dr. Siriwan said she’d prescribe – but she did say that it didn’t have “long term kidney or bone marrow side effects.” Isn’t that comforting?

So – we talked about it with Abigail, and we’ve decided to wait. She will have to take very good care of herself – being tired or run down at all increases the chances of an episode. Probably no sleepovers in the near future. And I’ve already talked to the head swim coach – Abigail can NEVER be alone in the pool and the coaches will need to pay extra attention to her. I’ll stop by school tomorrow to talk to her teacher – we all just need to watch her.

That’s what we know. It isn’t horrible news – it just wasn’t the definitive “this is what caused it and it is never going to happen again” answer that I was hoping for.

Continued prayers would be nice. Abigail isn’t at all concerned – she said she “wanted an answer” and she seems unconcerned that she could have another seizure. Mostly, she just wanted a doctor to confirm that she HAD a seizure, so she knew what to tell people for sure if they ask. If we learn anything more or if there are any sort of "incidents" we'll let you know. We're basically in a "wait and see what happens" pattern right now.

--Susan Lynn