Abby's Journey Archive

Today is Good Friday. Somehow it means more this year to me than in previous years. Our church does the stations of the cross each year, and I was struck once again by the sovereignty of God--that there is nothing that does not escape His notice. He knew fully what Abby was going to go through, and He knows fully her future as well.

Last night we colored Easter eggs (see picture at right). Abby's hair is coming in nicely now, though it is *very* dark! She doesn't seem to mind all the people that seem to want to touch it; she has been very gracious.

We have instructions on how to wean Abby off her anticonvulsant. 2 weeks from today she will be down to one medication only on the weekends. Praise God! Our neurologist doesn't anticipate any problems for Abby while we discontinue the Keppra, but you can pray it goes smoothly anyway!

God Bless.

Abby's EEG was normal. Her neurologist will call us sometime next week with instructions on how to wean her off the anticonvulsant.

Thanks for praying!

We are still waiting for the results of Abby's EEG. I am to call the office on Monday to see if they have official results.

The procedure went well. Abby was anxious about the test despite our reassurances that it would be painless. She vaguely remembered another EEG she had during her first stay in the hospital and she didn't appreciate the cleanser they had to rub on her scalp before placing the electrodes. I tried to remind her that at that point she had one thing she has much less of now...hair! That eased her mind a bit, but she was still concerned it was going to hurt.

When she got on the bed, she started to get worked up and then just closed her eyes. I asked her if she was ready to take her nap and she gave me her little smile and said, "I'm praying". She handled the placement of the electrodes extremely peacefully. The rest of the procedure was relatively uneventful. She got to sleep a whole 20 minutes (barely beginning to make up for the 4 hours we deprived her of). In all, it was one of our easiest appointments.

Abby saw the oncologist yesterday to have her port accessed and her labs checked. Praise God, her lymphocyte count is recovering beautifully. She has also gained a pound.

Her next MRI will be in mid-April. You can pray that there will be another clear scan. She has expressed a slight interest in trying her MRI without anesthesia. Please pray for wisdom for us to decide if that is realistic for her.

We'll post more information about the EEG as soon as we have results.

Tomorrow Abby has an electroencephalogram scheduled. She has to stay up until 11:00 PM tonight and get up at 4:00 AM tomorrow morning so they can make sure she falls asleep during the test and get a good study from it.

This test is to help determine if she can stop taking the anticonvulsant drug Keppra--she's been on it almost from the beginning, first to control the original seizures (of which she has only had 3 total), and then as a preventative post-surgery, since any brain surgery can disturb the brain enough to make it seize.

Keppra is a well-tolerated drug, especially for young patients like Abby, but over the past few months our doctors have asked us often when we are going to get her off of it.

Thanks again for your prayers!