This Past Year

Things have gotten a little more dicey this past year, starting when Stuart had his first seizure in public in October. He was on a school field trip, an outdoor event. An ambulance was called - lots of hubbub. Quite upsetting for his little 5th-grade friends. Anyway, he had two more in the following weeks - more than we had ever seen so close together. He went in for blood levels and another EEG. The levels were fine and the EEG showed the same abnormalities as the one from 5 years ago. The neurologist told us that we might expect him to have more seizures as he approaches puberty, due to chemical changes in the body.

In May, he had a seizure in an office chair while playing on the computer. When he fell sideways and began to convulse, he got his head caught between the back of the chair and the arm. This freaked out his older brother (14) a good bit. He ended up with petichiae bruises in and around his eyes. Fortunately, his neck wasn't hurt, but this gives you a good idea of what kind of crazy things can happen when seizures come out of the middle of nowhere, and no one is looking at you right at that moment. After his seizures, Stuart can't talk, even thought he can hear and understand us. He needs to sleep, which will help to lessen the headache and nausea he gets after each one.

Then there were two more seizures in June. Most times, the doctor will raise his medication dosage.