How Is David?: 06/01/2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

Tickets for Texas

About seven weeks till David leaves home and goes to Texas for school, if all goes well in the meantime. I bought plane tickets for August 19.

His status right now is that he has still had no seizures since last July 31. Eleven months! ("Normal" before that had been several days of seizures every month or so. That was with high doses of three medicines and the vagus nerve stimulator implant.) Things are a little different than several months ago since he asked for a lower setting of the VNS. In the fall and winter he missed several doses of his pills each week and felt no effects. Since the VNS dose was turned down, he now gets auras if he misses even one dose of pills. Having auras usually means he is getting vulnerable to having seizures.

Please pray that he will be stable so that he can go to this college that seems so ideal for him. And that he will be healed. We see Dr Maleeva on Friday July 31. It would be nice if we could get his VNS turned up higher again, but he in the past he has gotten insomnia from it, which triggered seizures, so it's not an easy question.

We are thinking of having a One Year Celebration on Saturday August 1 so please check back soon.

Thanks for the support and prayers. God has been Good!!

Pray for David

+Pray for no seizures and healing from epilepsy.

+Pray for no colds (often come with seizures), wisdom in matters of health.
+Thank God for the period of no seizures from July 31 2008 to July 7, 2009, even with one less medicine and his VNS implant being turned way low inadvertently.
+Thank God for a full recovery from the trauma caused by the grid on August 1 2008.

+Thank God for strength during the first four semesters at college.

+Pray for strength and wisdom through the third year, taken from home.

+Thank God for three months with no seizures, from early August to early November '11

+Pray for that pattern, of no seizures or even auras, to resume and remain

WHAT'S UP WITH DAVID--updated 9/19/09

David was diagnosed with focal epilepsy in 2000.
He has tried seven meds and had a device implanted, but still has had seizures and side effects.
Since summer 2007 he has been on a track toward surgery, which can be very effective. In July 2008 we got to the final stage which is to have grid surgery.
Grid surgery on July 29 involved placing a silicone grid of electrodes directly on his brain. A cable connected his head to an EEG screen, and he stayed in his hospital room to have seizures. If the grid shows where seizures come from then usually the spot can be removed and the epilepsy is gone or alleviated greatly.
Things went wrong on August 1 when the grid turned out to be very irritating and caused a lot of fluid buildup and swelling so it had to be taken out in emergency surgery as David started slipping into a coma. The opportunity to do therapeutic surgery was lost for the time.
But things started going well as he had no seizures for 11 months and 1 week after coming out of the hospital. Things are really good because he (accidentally) started taking one less medicine, and because his vagal nerve stimulator was (accidentally) set way too low after surgery, and still no seizures. This is very unexpected so maybe the trauma altered something in his brain and healed his epilepsy.
Despite some bumps things are still going well, with very few seizures. After asking for the VNS to be turned down, then having many more auras, turning it back up, and having sleep trouble, he has had seven seizures since July 7, '09. However, each seizure has been gentler than the last, and a common denominator has been found in many of them - looking at computer/TV screens too long.

How Is David?

Monday, June 29, 2009

Tickets for Texas

Pray for David

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WHAT'S UP WITH DAVID--updated 9/19/09

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