Brianna's Neuro Update

Brianna had her semi-annual visit to the neurologist. He scheduled her for her annual EEG to be done the following week. I really hate those... only because we have to stay awake most of the night! Do you know how hard it is to keep a child up and awake for the night, especially with no caffeine?! I always dread this test when it comes time... why can't they do the EEG test at night? They are able to do sleep studies on people at night... even Brianna lucks out because she gets to fall asleep during the test, while I sit in the chair and watch the computer screen with the technician, though I have NO IDEA what any of the "blips" and arcs and peaks mean! The technician did show me how they can tell if the patients eyes are opened or closed, or if they are moving around, but when I ask about "abnormal" peaks, she tells me that the doctor or radiologist would have to read that... go figure...

After twenty minutes of sleeping, two minutes of blowing a pinwheel around, sitting through a series of flashing strobe lights, etc., Brianna had her "second wind" once she was all done. I, on the other hand, was ready for a nap!! We ran a few errands after her testing, then I took her out for lunch. She wanted to go back to school, but I made her come home and lay down with me - she was sound asleep and snoring before I was!!


Back to the doctor visit... when I asked more questions about Benign Rolandic Epilepsy (this is what the doctor has diagnosed Brianna as having) the doctor told me that "syndrome" represents about 15% of all epilepsies in children. The seizures begin at an average age of about 6 to 8 years and in almost all cases, the seizures and symptoms disappear by the age of 15. He also went on to say that Brianna's "intelligence" is not affected by the seizures.

Benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) is named after the rolandic area of the brain, which controls movement in the affected part of the face. That name refers to certain patterns ("spikes") seen on the EEG which help to identify the syndrome. Other tests, such as the neurologic examination and MRI, are normal. A typical attack involves twitching, numbness, or tingling of the child's face or tongue (a partial seizure), which often interferes with speech and may cause drooling. These seizures last no more than 2 minutes and the child remains fully conscious. Sometimes children (like Brianna) also may have "tonic-clonic" seizures, usually during sleep. The seizures are usually infrequent, but they may occur in widely spaced clusters. The doctor keeps reassuring me that these seizures do not hurt Brianna and she should grow out of them... here's to keeping our fingers crossed...