Another Eighteen Months

Joel, my dad and I left for Saskatoon this morning at 5:30am. Joel's EEG was scheduled for 8:00am, but we had to register at 7:30am. I am so thankful that my dad offered to come with me because I would probably still be sleeping on a bench somewhere in Royal University Hospital. When we got home at 2:00pm, I laid Joel in his bed and set him up with a movie so I could nap for a bit.

Joel did an amazing job this morning during the EEG. Now, you're probably thinking, "So what? Don't you just have to lie there?". Yes, but that is much easier said than done for someone who's body is constantly spasming. Joel also can't hold his eyes closed without squinching up his body like he's readying for someone to sucker punch him. After about 15 minutes, Joel finally relaxed and he actually fell asleep. When I looked over at my dad (who was propped up in the corner in a computer chair), he was fast asleep too! The nurse and I were joking that we could hook the electrodes up to him. Joel slept for another 10-15 minutes and he actually had several seizures while he was sleeping. His body made absolutely no movement, but the lines on the computer would all of a sudden go absolutely crazy and squiggly. The doctor told us that Joel was experiencing seizures on both the left and the right sides of his brain when he was sleeping. He said that we could choose to wean him off the meds if we wanted to. But since the meds aren't doing any harm and they're relatively easy to administer (they're a touch bitter and Joel makes a face like he's just sucked on a lemon), we will keep him on them for the next year and a half.

And we weren't home for more than ten minutes when my doctor in Saskatoon phoned. Actually it was my new doctor - the one that my first rude-comment-making doctor referred me over to on Wednesday. She phoned to say that if she had known I was at RUH today, she would have seen me this afternoon. That not being the case, she asked if I could make it back tomorrow. This will be my third trip to Saskatoon in less than a week. But it will alllllllll be worth...hopefully in about 10 months! :-)