Unfortunately I wasn't able to email or send messages to everyone about the results of Emma's neurologist appointment today. I only had a few minutes so I updated the blog and then sent a link from facebook.
Before today, Jody and I had a limited knowledge of epilepsy. Epilepsy is really a blanket or broad term. Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. It’s also called a seizure disorder. When a person has two or more unprovoked seizures, they are considered to have epilepsy. Seizures happen when the electrical system of the brain malfunctions. Instead of discharging electrical energy in a controlled manner, the brain cells keep firing. The result may be a surge of energy through the brain, causing contractions of the muscles. Seizures cannot be stopped once they start and must run their course. They can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. Emma has simple partial seizures, where she is awake and aware but cannot control the parts of her body affected, they jerk uncontrollably.
Before today, Jody and I had a limited knowledge of epilepsy. Epilepsy is really a blanket or broad term. Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. It’s also called a seizure disorder. When a person has two or more unprovoked seizures, they are considered to have epilepsy. Seizures happen when the electrical system of the brain malfunctions. Instead of discharging electrical energy in a controlled manner, the brain cells keep firing. The result may be a surge of energy through the brain, causing contractions of the muscles. Seizures cannot be stopped once they start and must run their course. They can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. Emma has simple partial seizures, where she is awake and aware but cannot control the parts of her body affected, they jerk uncontrollably.
Emma's EEG was normal but she still has seizures, not that uncommon for those with epilepsy. She also had a CAT scan which was normal. We are waiting to hear back from the hospital for when her MRI will be scheduled. Her neurologist felt an MRI would give us a better, clearer picture of her brain to see if we could find a cause to the "mis-fires". Sometimes during brain development in the womb cells ended up in the wrong part of the brain, the MRI will show if this is the case for Emma. For now she is classified as being epileptic and is on medication twice a day to prevent any further seizures and goes back to her neurologist in two months to see how she's doing on the medication. Once she has been seizure free for two years they will gradually take her off the medication. We are thankful for a diagnosis, even though we don't know the cause, but that it can be controlled with medication. For more information on Epilepsy, click here.
1 comment:
Epilepsy can look very scary, but she will be fine. Just remember that her muscles have gone through a very tough work out during a seizure, she will need to rest after. We are praying.
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