Anna's Story
Birth-One
One-Two
Two-Three
Five-Seven
Anna's Pictures
Anna's Pictures, Part 2
4 years, 11 months: After a seizure in January, the neuro put Anna on Keppra. She had an allergic reaction to it, so we tried Depakote. She became toxic on that and had a seizure on the school bus. We are now trying a trial of no medication to get a baseline on her behavior which is showing us that Anna has serious issues with mood and impulse control. At her 5-year checkup, Anna was 25% weight (37.5 lbs) and 75% height (43").
4 years, 9 months: We have been seeing a child psychiatrist for Anna's behavior. Her neurologist feels that she is classic ADHD, but the psych feels she suffers from terrible anxiety and has serious separation issues. After witnessing major regression in her social skills with some concering autistic behaviors, the school district will evaluate her for PDD at our request. She needs a 1-1 aide in class and a much more structured environment.
4 years, 8 months: Anna had another set of breakthrough seizures with an illness. We attempted the highest dose of Lamictal for her age and weight (100 mg, 2x/day), but this dose was toxic. She did not sleep for 3 days and stopped eating, so we went back to the previous dose. If she has another seizure, we'll have to try a different medication.
4 years, 7 months: Results from last round of genetic tests are back. She tested negative for VCFS (chromosome 22), mitochondrial DNA was normal, negative for Fragile X, negative for inborns errors of metabolism, and the general FISH analysis of her chromosomes was also normal. We may have to accept that we'll never know what is causing Anna's issues.
4 years, 5 months: Anna started back to school. One week later, she fell face forward in Adaptive PE into a full blown TC seizure. She wasn't ill or feverish and she was awake when it hit. She knocked out a tooth and lacerated her lip through. We were unable to determine what caused this seizure. Lamictal increased to 75 mg, 2x/day. Her blood pressure was extremely elevated (154/82); she was subsequently cleared by a pediatric cardiologist with normal EKG, chest xray, and echocardiogram.
4 years, 5 months: Sleep study results are in and though Anna has no cardiac or breathing issues, she has abnormally latent phases in getting to sleep and achieving REM sleep. Her REM sleep is also decreased. She had 13 arousals of more than 90 seconds totaling 97 minutes and 48 microarousals. The neuro wants to put her on medication to help her sleep; we aren't sure yet if this is the best course of action.
4 years, 3 months: We finally completed the sleep study and are awaiting results. She had another tonic-clonic seizure immediately followed by a partial seizure that including facial grimacing and chewing motions just days after completing the sleep study. Another seizure followed 2 days later. Lamictal is now at 50 mg a.m./75 mg p.m.
4 years: On a trip to Wichita Falls for Granny's funeral, Anna took a terrible fall and struck the back of her head. She was unable to stay awake, so we went to the ER where they cleared her. The next night she had a seizure. The day after, during the funeral service, she passed out and became blue. It was determined that she had a partial seizure during the service. Her Lamictal was increased to 50 mg, 2x/day.