One month ago today Elisabeth went into surgery to have a VNS placed in her chest. Two weeks later, we went back to Spokane to have the device turned on - meaning it would start sending electric pulses to her brain in hopes of reducing seizure activity.
Since turning it on, Elisabeth and I have traveled to Spokane two more times to tweak the settings, searching for that perfect balance between pulse intensity and the interval between pulses.
I am pleased to announce that...
It's working!!!!!
In the past two weeks we have seen a dramatic reduction in seizures. Where we used to see them every one to two hours, we are now seeing perhaps two a day. There was even a period of two days where we saw zero!
As you can imagine, we are thrilled. Elisabeth has been suffering from seizures since she was just six weeks old. Seizures have stolen so much from her: her ability to crawl, her ability to eat, the three words that she once knew how to say. Hopefully, the seizures will continue to decrease. And hopefully, with relief of constant seizure activity, Elisabeth can begin to regain some of the skills that she lost.
The cheers for VNS!
Hip hip!
Hip hip!
Hip hip hooray!!!!
Do you like Elisabeth's crown? Her nurse at school made it for her! In fact, she made a whole lot of them to be sold at a local boutique under the name Queen E Creations. Isn't that amazing?! And isn't it adorable?!
