Ryan's EEG report

Ryan had a routine EEG appointment on Monday, 2/9/15. It was pre-scheduled and just a regular check up to see how he, and his brain, are doing. This EEG was a little different, however, because our EEG tech used a strobe light for a few minutes to record his brain activity in response. Strobe lights can trigger seizure in epileptics so I think they wanted to see what would happen. I was a little nervous and could tell at the time that he was reacting to the strobe light. When I say reacting, I mean that he was kicking his legs and moving his arms and head around, just general movement reactions. I could tell that he was not having a spasm like he used to have and he didn't seem to me to have a seizure. Once the strobe light portion of the EEG was over, I felt a lot more relaxed. Ryan and I took a little nap* and then got unhooked and left.

Selfie with Mama in the waiting room

Getting my cap on

I'm sweet and smiley even when electrodes
are being put on my head!

Talking to my Mama

Just thinkin' about life...

So incredibly handsome!
The gauze holds the cap in place so that the electrodes
don't move around and compromise the test results.

Grainy pic due to the lights being off - ready for
the EEG to begin

So after the EEG we had the ice storm, which delays just about everything in South Carolina, and I played a fair amount of phone tag with the neurology office (well, it wasn't really tag, more like I was just stalking them but not getting a response)! I wasn't too worried about not hearing back because Ryan's been doing SO GREAT lately that I felt sure he had good results and I also thought that if they saw anything worrisome or troubling, they would definitely have called back in a hurry. Well I finally got a call back from our neurologist, Dr. Taft today.

The report was good. Very good. Dr. Taft told me that Ryan's EEG was normal. N. O. R. M. A. L. I asked for more detail because I had not expected to hear that. Ever. We'd been told that he'd probably never have a normal EEG but we could hope that the spikes would calm down and it would look less erratic than it had at the worst times during the infantile spasms. So when I heard that word...normal...tears immediately sprung to my eyes and I couldn't believe my ears. Keep in mind that I'm not using real medical terms when I describe all of this, but just trying to put it in layman's
terms and stick as closely to the report I got from Dr. Taft based on what I can remember from my mind, which was blown. He confirmed again that this was great news and he reiterated that based on what he read on the report, he did not see abnormalities. YAY! As soon as I got off the phone with Dr. Taft, I called Thomas. Through my shaky voice and tears, I told him what I'd just learned. He, too, was ecstatic! We decided that we would celebrate tonight. Cheers to Ryan! And thanks to God for doing such amazing things in his life.

Cheers to our amazing little man!

Kisses for my Ryan!!!

 

*EEG appointments are pretty great because it is such a calm and relaxing time. We sit on a hospital bed (while Ryan's head is bandaged up with electrodes) and are surrounded by pillows. I can change the settings on the bed to get comfortable for both of us. The EEG tech turns the lights off, puts on some white noise and leaves the room. It doesn't take long for Ryan and me to nod off into la-la land. Naps are the best. :)