The preparations for Ella’s surgery begin. Today I took Ella to Children’s Hospital for the first pre-surgery test, an EEG. The procedure went very smoothly with Ella asleep during the whole messy setup. 28 electrodes were glued to her scalp and then her brain activity was recorded when she was asleep and when she was awake. Several things showed up on the EEG both disturbing and reassuring. Though I am no EEG expert, I could pick up several things going on in Ella’s brain activity. First of all the activity is totally asymmetrical. Her left side churns along calmly with smooth peaks and valleys. Her right side is a picture of chaos. Sporadic sharp peaks and valleys, much more aggressive than the left. The technician confirms this: ‘definitely seizure activity’. This is quite amazing, she is living with a constant drone in her brain. It is a wonder she manages to do anything. Another thing that was very apparent was the fact that when Ella moved around, (moving her arms and legs). The brain activity on the left side closely corresponded to that movement. Though, the activity on the right side showed no change whatsoever. This has led me to several conclusions (some can be classified scientifically as wishful thinking but still…):
- Ella, though she seems to have the seizures under control is in a constant state of near seizures. We are lucky that they aren’t breaking through to form full blown seizures, but they are there, right under the surface.
- It seems like the activity of even the left side of her body has already started migrating to the left side of the brain. When she moves her left arm, the left side of the brain shows that activity. The right doesn’t.
- This makes the argument for surgery stronger since it doesn’t seem like she will be loosing functionality with the loss of the right hemisphere. Also the constant chaotic brain activity in the right side is, for sure, affecting her ability to develop.
So there.
Still I cringe every time I think of the impending surgery ahead. Later today we went for a last helmet adjustment (since surgery is going to stop the use of the helmet). And then to draw blood for levels. Ella was very good and totally interested in the noise, people and action in the hospital.
Don’t worry Ella. We’ll be back.