Another EEG and new mouth hardware for Reagan!

Well it's that time of year again so Reagan had her Spring EEG with a follow up appointment with

Dr. Lavenstein.  Each year she gets one night where she gets to stay up late with dad, going to Walmart or staying up late watching a movie.  Then she gets up with mom four hours later and we run to Dunkin Donuts.  It's become a Spring tradition that she actually looks forward to.  She knows the drill, knows what will be expected of her and she is probably the easiest patient they have there all day.  We are so blessed she understands what is being done and can follow instructions.

Those dedicated followers on our journey know that each Spring

we get our hopes up that perhaps the epileptic activity has slowed and we could consider taking Reagan off her seizure medications.  Unfortunately she continues to show significant spikes in her sleep deprived EEG which would be indicative of seizures if she wasn't medicated.  As high as 10-15 per minute even during sleep.

Our appointment with Dr. Lavenstein went well and as expected given these results.  He said she is looking great and doing well and we shouldn't be discouraged.  It's so hard not to, though.  Not only did he not want to take her off the meds, he increased them due to her weight gain from last year.  On the up side, he decided he only needs to see her yearly now.  One less drive to Fairfax!!  And so we stay the course and hold out hope that maybe next year we will be the magic year that her brain settles down.  But we are always thankful that her seizures CAN be controlled - we definitely don't take that for granted.

In other big news Reagan was fitted for her permanent pallet expander today.  With each stage of development you forget how awful it was for you and jump in blindly.  Well this is no different.  I had hardware on my teeth from age 8 to 16 and even then took a retainer away to college.  It's easy to know you're making the right decision, but hard when you know how awful it is when you're going through it.  She's in pain, can't swallow and will probably cry every night for a week when I have to turn the key.  Not looking forward to this phase, but we'll get through it like all the others.  I had to laugh that the EEG was a breeze but this was traumatic.  It's all about perspective and prior experience.  Luckily we know this tool will help her make room for the teeth still coming in and get us setup for braces.  They said to expect the expander for about 9 months.

It's amazing that it's JUNE!  Wow, no clue where the year went, but it will wrap up before we know it!  A few more posts before then since I'm a little behind....