EEG and Ear Tube Surgery

We took River to Dell Children's Hospital 2 weeks ago to have an EEG done to find out if he is having absence seizures. ""Electroencephalography (EEG) is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain," according to wikipedia. Prior to the procedure, they told us that River would need to lay still for 1.5 hours while hooked to the electrodes that monitor his brain activity. For those that know River, know that he is extremely active and it is difficult to get him to lay still for 5 minutes much less an hour and a half! We were a bit concerned going in, but knew we would just find a way to make it work and hope for the best. I must say that I was very impressed with the way River handled the procedure. The first part was the most difficult. Daddy sat on the bed with him and helped the nurse hold him still while she applied about 30 electrodes with a gel to his scalp and forehead. It took about 45 minutes just to get him all connected so they could monitor him. It turns out that they only had to monitor his brain activity for 30 minutes, whew!! The 1.5 hours we were quoted on the phone included the time it took just to get all the electrodes connected. That made us feel much better. River actually fell asleep once he was all hooked up which made the 30 minutes fly by. We felt bad having to wake him up when it was all over. He was so strong and such a trooper, as always! We got the results of the EEG a couple of days later and everything came back normal! It was wonderful news. Grandma said it was reason to celebrate and throw a party!

 This past week River had surgery to place tubes in his ears. We admitted him the night before because he needed to fast for at least 6 hours before surgery and that is not possible for River. River usually can only make it 30 minutes - 1 hour of fasting before his blood sugar drops below 70. At midnight they started a dextrose IV to keep his blood sugar stable while the turned off his g-tube feeds. His blood sugar stayed stable during and after the switch to IV fluids!! I was worried that River would have trouble sleeping in the hospital but he slept like a log, even through several blood draws to test his blood sugar. Mom and Dad on the other hand, slept on the couch in the room and didn't get much sleep. His surgery was at 7am in the morning and he didn't even cry when the nurses took him away to give him the anesthesia. He is so independent and completely fine without mommy and daddy :( The surgery lasted about 20 minutes and he did great! We got discharged from the hospital later that morning. We had to get discharged from his original room since he was admitted as an inpatient. He has adjusted to the tubes wonderfully and his sinus congestion that he's had for the past couple of weeks is finally clearing up.

We took River up to the mall to see Santa and ride the Choo Choo train. He had so much fun riding the train and rode it all by himself. He even clapped when the ride was over, it was adorable! I posted a little video of the end so you can see the end of his train ride and applause.