I’m not really sure how to start this post.
There’s the “bright side” approach: Well, we don’t have to worry about Jade having Parkinson’s, nerve pain, or restless legs syndrome…
Or there’s the “jolly” approach: Wow, Jade got to have her sixth ambulance ride today!
I suppose there’s always the matter-of-fact approach: Jade was having back-to-back seizures today, for a couple of hours in the morning (the daycare called to let us know and we decided to take her home) and then again in the afternoon. After calling the BC Children’s hospital, we were advised to administer the emergency Valium (our last ampule) and call for an ambulance.
It doesn’t sound nearly as fun that way, though, does it?
Jade and Michael rode down to the hospital together again while I packed things up in case they would be there overnight. I chastised myself as I did so because after Friday’s chaos, I decided it would be a good plan to have overnight bags packed so they’d be ready to go at a moment’s notice. I just never got around to actually putting that plan into action, so here I was again scrambling to remember everything.
This time we saw Dr. Tadepalli at Emergency. (Perhaps Jade is trying to meet every Emergency doctor there is. If that’s the plan, then this trip was a waste of time, since we’ve met Dr. Tadepalli before — he’s the one who told us a year and a half ago, gently and empathetically, that Michael’s visiting Granny hadn’t suffered a stroke, but had a brain tumour.) Dr. Tadepalli managed to become familiar with Jade’s medical history in a very short period of time — Michael said he already knew all about her when he went into the room to see them.
After Friday’s major seizure, the neurologists in BC had recommended that any further big seizure activity would warrant starting Jade on a sedative once a day (Clonazepam, in her case, which is also used to treat the other conditions I mentioned at the top of the post). Dr. Tadepalli felt that this would be the right course of action to follow now, especially since we observed that the Valium on Friday suppressed her seizure activity for the rest of the day. We’ll also be getting Jade’s blood tested again for drug levels in the next few days.
We have misgivings about giving her such an addictive substance, but today was such a bad day for Jade… I’m not sure we can survive too many like it. There may be alternative treatments (like the ketogenic diet, for example) but they’re also hard to live with. I have too many questions and thoughts in my head right now, and it’s past my bedtime, so I will wrap up.
I know this place used to be a lot more fun. I had all sorts of fun things to tell you about, too, like the music camp classes I’ve taken so far, and our first pre-natal visit with Heather the midwife, and Michael hearing Nugget’s heartbeat when he put his ear to my belly. There’s good stuff coming, I promise!
But for now, the really good stuff is a good night’s sleep. Hope you’re getting it, wherever you are.
