Testing at Le Bonheur

Sunday after Church, Brenna and I headed back to Memphis. We met up with my sister and neice in Tulsa, and they are with us.

Yesterday, Monday, we checked in at Le Bonheur for Brenna's testing. She was scheduled for the MEG. It's the new test that they wanted to do so that they could see if she's a candidate for surgery. She was the 21st patient to use it. Apparently, there are six or seven in the US, but only a couple do children. Thankfully, one of them is here. They hooked up the the leads to her head, kind of like the EEG - which Brenna wasn't crazy about. Then they took her into a room where this machine came down over her head. I couldn't stay in the room with her since it's magnetized, because of my leg. But there was a camera in the room so I could watch her. It is supposed to be so much more detailed and advanced that they will be able to locate all the areas that they don't want to touch, and pinpoint the area that they need to fix. Anyway, it was a really interesting test. I hope that it really shows them what they need to do. She fell asleep after about five minutes and was snoring like grandpa. (Ha ha) Then, they put leads on her right index finger and her right big toe to determine where those areas were exactly in the brain and then also asked her questions to show where her language was located. Now, Dr. Clark, her epileptologist and Dr. Boop, her neurosurgeon, will look at the results and determine what our plan of attack will be. I think they will know something by Friday. I hope. I'm still not really sure about the surgery. We're doing a lot of praying and the surgeon will have to be pretty convincing for us to go that route.

Today, we had to go back to Le Bonheur for her growth hormone deficiency test. It wasn't too bad. They gave her medicine through the IV and and then took her blood every thirty minutes. The medicine was supposed to stimulate the pituitary gland to produce growth hormone and then they were going to check the levels in her blood. They told me it could make her nauseated, so they gave her a barf bag, but, she didn't get sick until we got back to the Grizzlies House. She only threw up a couple of times, thankfully.

So, we just chilled out in the room for the afternoon. We all needed a nap. I've been battling allergies for about a week now and am miserable. I think it's developed into bronchitis or something. I feel awful. I told David to make me a Dr. appointment for when we get back tomorrow.

It's been good for Brenna that her cousin came this time. They're pretty good buddies and it's helped keep her mind off of things.

My sister told me how visiting St. Jude makes her so thankful. Everyone should try to visit a hospital like St. Jude at least once because it puts things into perspective. Daily troubles don't seem quite as bad when you come here. It makes you appreciate so much more how God blesses you, even through trials. Even now, coming back, I can honestly thank God for what He has done and given to our family. I'm amazed at His faithfulness. Every morning His mercy is new and I will continue to praise HIM.

We'll hit the road early tomorrow morning. I'm anxious to get back and see David and the kids. Bella has had a hard time with me being gone for some reason. Last night, she ended up in bed with Daddy. I'm sure he's ready for us to be back too. :)

Homebound

Last Monday, I enrolled Brenna in a homebound teacher program. She just can't go to school right now. It was a difficult decision, because she loves school so much, but I think it was the right one. After we did it, we went down and talked to her teacher, Mrs. Churchwell, whom she loves dearly. That night, she asked if Mrs. Churchwell could be her homebound teacher. I didn't know because it's a volunteer thing. But, the next day, Mrs. C. called and said she was going to be Brenna's homebound teacher. Brenna was very excited. So was I. She comes on Mondays and Thursdays. I think it's going to be a good thing for the rest of the school year.

We go to St. Jude on the 21st. They are going to do growth hormone deficiency testing since she's not growing like they think she should. I'm really not concerned about that right now. The most important thing is getting these seizures under control. I'm hoping to hear from the neurology clinic this week to see if they've got her scheduled for that magnaencephalogram test also. I really want to get that done so we can know what we're going to do. I talked with them last week and they asked me if they could share Brenna's case at an Epilepsy conference because her type of seizures are so rare. I said that would be great, especially if it helps find a solution and a cure.

Jalen's birthday is tomorrow. He is going to be ten!! Double digits - I feel so old. He's having a sleepover this weekend with three of his buddies. It will be fun. They might camp out in our tent if the weather cooperates. Of course, Jalen's a big chicken, so I don't know if they will make it all night out in a tent by themselves. We'll see. :)

-Bettina