Neurologist Appointment

Hayden had an follow-up appointment with his neurologist on Monday. Dr. Palat was glad to hear that Hayden continues to be doing well since his shunt revision. She is not going to change anything at this time, since his seizures appear to be under control. A follow up EEG will be scheduled in August just to make sure all is still well. It is clear that she is still concerned about Hayden and is uncertain why his last EEG was so good. At least we have a good baseline now to judge future EEGs against. I assured her that we know that it's not likely that Hayden's EEG will remain so good, but that we are going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts. I think she was glad to know that we are at least realistic about what is likely to happen in the future. She mentioned the possibility that he will develop Lennox Gastaut Syndrome as he gets older. I read about this in the research I did about infantile spasms, and was aware that this is something that is very possibly in Hayden's future. It's definitely not a good thing to be diagnosed with. In very simple terms, this syndrome is characterized by multiple seizure types and develops usually between the ages of 3 and 6. In children with this syndrome, the seizures are very hard to control and most are moderately to severely mentally retarded. We will keep our fingers crossed that this is not in Hayden's future, that he will be the exception and keep a great looking EEG.