Hotel Scottish Rite

Claire has decided that life at home is a little too boring, and so, over the past week, she has taken steps to buy herself a visit to the Children's Hospital.

It all started on Monday, when she had 16 seizures. While this was enough to worry Brad and me, it wasn't enough to break us. We've spent enough time with Claire to know that she has days where she has lots of seizures, and they can usually be stopped with a big sedative. We gave her a Klonopin, and sure enough, it knocked her out. We felt happy to have avoided a trip to the ER.

Then, on Tuesday, she had 15 seizures. We again gave her a Klonopin, but this time, she continued to seize, so we called the on-call neurologist, who advised us to give her another Klonopin. The second pill knocked her out, and we again felt happy to have avoided a trip to the ER.

Determined to have another hospital visit under her belt, Claire outdid herself this morning by having near constant seizures. Brad said he stopped counting, but estimated at least 30, all lasting 1 minute or more. He took her to the ER, and she was admitted to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit for further observation.

When she first got to her room (but before her EEG was hooked up), she was having multiple seizures and desatting to 60. (Desatting refers to a drop in a person's blood oxygen level. You can read more about it here.) She was given an Ativan and went right to sleep. While she was asleep, her EEG leads were placed.

After a few hours, she woke up and appeared awake and alert. And guess what? She didn't have a single seizure. Seriously.

We are not sure how long she will be kept for observation, but we are told that the neurologists want to get a peek at the new seizure activity she seems to be having. So, for once, I am actually hoping Claire will have a seizure. Lots of them, actually. Enough so her doctors can get the data they need to understand what is going on in that little brain of hers.

In the meantime, Claire seems to be enjoying all of the attention she is getting. She was visited by a wonderful couple from our church this evening. Although she was asleep when they arrived, she appreciated the pretty candle they brought for her. I did, too. : )