Update on G

Many of you have asked how G is doing after she was diagnosed with epilepsy last month. We really appreciate your prayers and concern, so I wanted to update you. She has been on the medication for a month now, has had a second EEG (we call it a "sleep test"), and we have met with the pediatric neurologist.

A Praise: The second EEG was normal, which means the medication she is currently taking is controlling her absence seizures. We're very happy about this!

The pediatric neurologist said her two episodes were not typical absence seizures, since they have lasted so long both times and have a period of confusion afterwards. They could be complex partial seizures. The medicine she is on is most helpful for absence seizures, so the doctor isn't sure how long it will control her longer episodes. Since it is controlling the smaller absence seizures that showed on the first EEG, we are going to keep her on this medicine until she has another breakthrough seizure. She will need another MRI in a couple months and then she will have EEG's every 6 months or so to monitor the effectiveness of the medication. In a couple of years they will consider taking her off the meds if her EEG's are clear, and see what happens. Some children grow out of epilepsy.

Another praise is that it seems her night terrors have decreased, both in severity and frequency, since she started on the full dose of the medication. These are not necessarily related to the epilepsy, as no one knows what causes them. She could just be outgrowing them, but the timing seems like more than a coincidence at this point. If the medicine is helping to control the night terrors, even if just a little, then great!

A Prayer Request: We would ask for prayer that the medicine would continue working and that the side effects would be few and mild, and that the next MRI would be clear. Pray also that the night terrors will continue to be controlled. With all of G's tests and the baby coming next year, we are thinking about changing our insurance, so please pray that they will cover her required tests and not consider this a pre-existing condition.

Thanks again for your support and prayers. They mean a lot to all of us!