Rainbow Connection: Testing Day

Thursday last week was testing day. After a sleep deprived night for David (and mommy) we headed to St. Alexius Hospital to have both David's short EEG and his MRI done. Both of these test were ordered by the neurologist in order to determine in he was having any seizures and/or if there was any structural issues with his brain or seizure activity that might not be seen on an EEG, but that can be seen on a MRI.

First up, the short EEG. For those of you who don't know, an EEG (or electroencephalograph) is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. The EEG records the brain's spontaneous electrical activity over a period of time and is used to determine if brain waves are "normal" for age during wake and sleep. In this case we did a short EEG, which means it was done for a short period of time, about 30-40 minutes, with a mixture of wake and sleep. He was also put in stress situations such as hyperventilation and overestimation (flashing/strobing lights). David did great great. He tolerated having all of the electrodes placed on his head, and smiled at the fact that he looked like a mummy once his head was wrapped up to protect the electrodes. He also did well with the parts he was asked to participate in during wake and promptly fell asleep when he was able. When it was over, he was tolerant of the technician who took the electrodes off and attempted wash the goop out of his hair, but truth be told he was a bit crabby.

Next up, a snack from the Starbucks in the hospital lobby while we waited. Thank goodness for Starbucks, because this sleep deprived mommy needed her coffee! Then we headed down to MRI. We ended up having to wait about an hour between appointments but that was ok. David ended up watching cartoons in the waiting room, so he was fine.

David's MRI (or magnetic resonance imagining) was done as another diagnostic tool. Utilizing a special MRI machine, specifically for seizure imagining, the goal is to try to identify if one, there are any abnormalities in the brain that could be causing seizures (tumors, masses,etc). Two, if he is having seizures can they identify where they are located by way of scar tissue. And three, are they able to determine the type of seizure that he might be having: Partial seizures, which begin in one area of the brain or general seizures which seem to affect the entire brain. Again, David did great! He was able to stay still for the entire hour of the test and despite the loud noise of the machine, did not seem to be affected.

All in all it was a good day... now we just have to wait for results!

Mommy and David getting sleep deprived