Wednesday 3 October 2012

Oh Happy Day

Hello friends, I have to admit that blogging isn't my strong suit. Once again I apologize for the large gap in blogs. Having said this let's begin...

New friends help make this easier
Paging Dr. Cheeks
Since we last met Chloe has made leaps and bounds in her situation. In August Chloe underwent both an MRI and another EEG. On the the 13th we went to CHEO for Chloe's MRI intake and the 16th had the MRI. The reason for the MRI was to rule out any underlying causes of the Spasms (70% of cases with children with IS is caused by some pretty scary abnormalities - Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, etc). The MRI was a little more invasive then EEG as they had to sedate her to keep her from moving around.  I'll admit that this was harder on me then it was on her, she didn't even cry while they were sedating her (Mama sure did). The doctor and nurses that were preforming the MRI were greatly impressed by the fact Chloe was so calm while being sedated. They had explained that it was  the norm for most children to get very upset and often fight the sedation where as all Chloe wanted was to hold my hand and be sent to sleep with a little kiss on the forehead.
Coming out of sedation

All the nurses and doctors were very encouraging and even took the extra time to rescan Chloe just in case they missed anything. The EEG was just to make sure that the readings from the last EEG hadn't changed and Dr. Sell was able to give us the news that we'd been anxiously awaiting: The meds have done their job and Chloe was Spasm free!!! As of writing this it has been exactly 101 days since her last spasm!!! Included in all this is that Chloe's Feeding Survey showed nothing abnormal with her throat and she was once again ok'd to eat regular food (YAY, no more purees!). On top of all this Chloe has been weened completely off the Prednisone and we've also started weening her off the Sabril. As of the end on October Chloe will once again be completely medication free!! Dr. Sell says we shouldn't need another EEG until at least January and now the next thing we have to look forward to is a developmental check up to see where Chloe is (though it hasn't been booked yet). Dr. Sell says that even though it looks like we're out of the woods we're still going to have EEG's and another MRI just to to make sure things are staying on track, though those haven't been booked yet either :p

We've (Chloe and I) recently started attending a Mommy and Me group and a stroller fit group in hoped of making some new friends and to get healthier. It finally feels as if we can put the past 6 months behind us (knock on wood ;) )



We are so, so grateful to the doctors and staff at CHEO for the outstanding care our family has received as well as the love, prayer and support of our friends, church and family.