Thursday was a big day!

Just a few hours into our morning, and we found ourselves getting closer to the answers we have been searching for.
Our first visit from a doctor this morning (Dr. Lee-Messer) revealed that after Alex went to bed Wednesday night (early Thursday morning because she was trying to become sleep deprived), her EEG showed some abnormal "epileptic" activity. This was the first evidence to the Stanford team that she was suffering from this issue, in addition to the non-epileptic seizures that the tests revealed yesterday. This helps to add more depth, and possible answers, to what Alex has been dealing with for years.
Then around 930am, Dr. Barry visited us and worked with Alex again on her non-epileptic seizures. Allison & I were able to witness as the doctor talked her through a seizure from beginning to end. Although Dr. Barry is very optimistic about Alex's ability to train herself to minimize or eliminate these types of seizures, she is quite nervous and apprehensive now that she knows they can come on so easily. She is also feeling very frustrated about having these non-epileptic seizures and now thinks that it must all be in her head. Dr. Barry assured her that these seizures are are more common than people think and that even though the goal is to exercise her brain and reteach it how to handle these episodes, it all happens in our subconscious and at a level that even the experts have little explanation on.
The day progressed, we spoke to the doctors more frequently and they agreed that they had all the info they needed and it was fine if we went home. Now all that had to be done was an IV dose of meds and a long shampoo job to get rid of the glue in her hair from the sensors, then we were on our way home!
Here's the net result (as well as we know it now):

• EEG's show abnormal activity, and when paired with the history and description of her earlier seizures, gives us the conclusion that she has had epileptic seizures (tonic clonic or grand mal).
• The hyperventilation & strobe tests along with hypnotherapy exercise revealed to us that her more recent seizures have most likely been of the non-epileptic type.
• Dr. Barry worked with Alex on ways that she may be able to minimize the effects of the non-epileptic seizures.
• They are slowly going to phase in a different anti-seizure med while tapering her off the old one. We will be watching this closely for side effects or other issues.

Overall, it was a great experience and with the help of this great medical team, we feel Alex has a really good chance of putting this behind her, sooner rather than later in life.

Thanks again to everyone for the love, support, prayers, kind words and well wishes. It never went unnoticed or unfelt.

With love,

KAAL