quick Joan update...

Just a quick one, before we head off to Golden to save our broken van, so everyone knows what's up with Joan.

We finally got her EEG done on Monday morning - after two cancelled attempts to get out to Calgary. Third time's the charm, I guess. It was supposed to be routine, with nothing showing up, but something actually turned up. There was in fact a bunch of electrical activity around the stroke site. Not as much as many other kids, but it was there regardless. The neurologist explained that they've discovered a correlation between this activity and kids who have behavioural issues, social delays and even speech delays after their strokes -all of which Joan has. They've found that if they can quiet it down with anti-seizure medicine, they can sometimes tame a lot of those issues. The kids are calmer, do better in school, and often shoot forward in language development - though in others, it does nothing. It just depends. The theory goes that that electrical activity, which continues around the clock, may be interfering with sleep, which causes the brain to essentially be tired and less able to learn and process during the day. Before he had also told us that a constant rumble of activity like that kind of confuses the brain, making it harder to learn.

SO, now we start the process to see if we can do anything about it. The next step is a multi-day trip to Calgary early in the new year. She'll be assessed by a pshychiatrist, who specializes in pediatric strokes. He'll do a rigorous "neuropsych" test to determine exactly how her brain thinks, and what parts are effected and how. Then, she'll be strapped to a portable EEG, which she'll wear right through the night, and into the next day. Then they look at the readings, and if that activity is still there, they'll prescribe her medication to tame it down. Then, we go back in three months to repeat the entire thing to see if she's made larger gains than normally expected in that time frame, in an attempt to make the assessment as scientific as possible.

Generally, he's pleased with her progress, and everything looks good. We brought up sleep, though - she has a horrible time falling asleep - sometimes, she bounces off the walls for hours. Even if there's no stimulation, she'll just lay there and talk to herself. She's obviously not getting enough sleep, because she always has puffy dark circles under her eyes. He said it's extremely common in kids with any sort of brain injury. He told us that most of his stroke patients take melatonin, and recommended we try it too, to see if it helps her. It's the chemical released just as you fall asleep, so it would boost her own production. We were a little leery about it at first - it sounded like he asked us to give our kid sleeping pills. But apparently, it's not like that. Apparently it's totally safe, not habit forming, and you just get it over the counter or at the health food store. (and it's cheap - bonus!) He told us to give it a couple weeks, to shift her sleeping pattern. We tried it last night, and it was definitely an improvement. Within a few minutes she was dopey and actually asking to go to bed. She still stayed up and played with Dave for a bit, but nothing like normal. They giggles under blankets, instead of tearing the room apart. This could be a good thing!

So really, an awesome visit. A whirlwind visit, but awesome. Unfortunatley, we didn't have time to visit Mike's sister while we were there. We got in late, because we couldn't leave town until after the kids' church pageant. We were luicky enough to find a hotel that had a full two bedroom suite in it, with a pull-out couch in the living room. Thanks to winter rates, it was the same cost as a normal hotel room. That way, everyone who was allowed to sleep could sleep soundly, but Joan and I, who had to be up in the wee hours, so she'd be sleepy enough to sleep for the EEG, could be up without disturbing anyone. Thenext morning we had to bolt for the hospital, then because the test came back positive, the neurologist appointment was extrmemely long - it was 2 before we could even leave the hospital, and we wanted to get as far through the mountains before dark as we could, so we had to really run. In the end, we wound up getting home at midnight, because we had a breakdown in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service, near Golden. Thankfully, a guy with an 8-poassenger van behind up was watching us sputter to our death, and he pulled over to help. He gave us a lift to Golden, where, (thanks again to Alice) we were able to rent a car to get home. (We had enough money in cash and debit, but not on a credit card, and there was no TD to take our wad of cash and put it on the card for the required hold.) So today, we're off to the parts store, then back to Golden to return and pay for the rental car, fix the van and head back. It'll be a full day, so I better get outta here!!

Lots more soon. Mike's grandma is visiting, so I have lots of new pictures. I'll put them up soon. (She wisely skipped our whirlwind trip to the hospital, and was here safe and sound through the whole ordeal. I'm sure she was glad for that!)