Neuro Appt. Yesterday

I took Ethan to the neurologist yesterday to discuss the possible seizure activity and she is concerned enough to want to refer him to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU). The stay in the EMU can take up to three days. Ethan will be hooked up to an EEG (Lord, help me already!), meaning that he will have a couple dozen, if not more, electrodes glued to his head in order to catch any different brain activity. I asked if we could put a helmet on him or something to keep him from pulling at the wires, but she said that the turban/rope is usually sufficient. HA. You don't know my Ethan... I think some more arm restraints will be necessary.

Neuro doesn't have a clear reason why Ethan is walking into walls. Remember, this also happens when he is crawling, and he only falls to the right. She pretty much ruled out vertigo, he doesn't have fluid in his ears, and his vision has not changed drastically enough to cause such a ruckus "Can you describe the ruckus?". She also did some reflex stuff to see if there were any other signs of a retethering of his spinal cord. So far, so good on that one, but it did enter my mind. He should NOT be able to retether, but again, this is ETHAN we are talking about. E.T.H.A.N.I.S.M.S

Some people have asked me about sensory seizures. To be honest, I don't know a whole lot more than what the internet says and what Paula Aquilla told me last year. From what I know, they are very hard to diagnose because they are triggered by some form of sensory overload. People that have had them can describe how they feel after they happen, but Ethan can't. That is why all of this is even more difficult.

The definition on www.epilepsy.com is this:

Sensory seizures:

These cause changes in any one of the senses. People with sensory seizures may smell or taste things that aren't there; hear clicking, ringing, or a person's voice when there is no actual sound; or feel a sensation of "pins and needles" or numbness. Seizures may even be painful for some patients. They may feel as if they are floating or spinning in space. They may have visual hallucinations, seeing things that aren't there (a spot of light, a scene with people). They also may experience illusions—distortions of true sensations. For instance, they may believe that a parked car is moving farther away, or that a person's voice is muffled when it's actually clear.

I guess only time will tell after we get the test results back. Neuro said that we can probably expect to hear from EMU within two weeks. Fun times.