Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Medical Update

Today we went to Idaho Falls to see a new neurologist, Dr Talcott (who was trained by the Mayo Clinic). He had many new innovative ideas and answers to Brea and her many medical mysteries. Here is our update…
She has been diagnosed with Nocturnal Epilepsy, which is a seizure disorder which only results in seizures in the night (we are doing research on this and don’t know a TON about it yet)…
And she is thought to have had it since she was 11 years old. Brea has been getting a pain in her left mastoid since she was 11 years old, in which she would wake up in the middle of the night in severe pain. This is now believed to be the result of mild seizures in the night (in which case her parents wouldn’t know) that would strain and kink her neck. She also had jaw problems growing up and ended up getting double jaw surgery when she was 17. This is due to the grinding and clenching of her jaw during/throughout seizures. Her MRI, EEG’s and CT scans (which she has been having this year) all came back clear due to the fact that her seizures are nocturnal (meaning to see the symptoms she has to be sleeping).
She has been put on some epilepsy medication and multiple supplements (to counteract the negative results of the medication). She still feels pretty sick and the medication will not stop her soreness and migraine from the last seizure but it will help to eliminate (or reduce) any more seizures (large or small) and migraines. She is so relieved to be a little less in the dark and on the road to recovery.

Thank you to everyone for all your love and support. We know that your prayers have helped extraordinarily and have given us the faith and courage to move forward.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

hey, in some ways it is great that they have finally got an idea of what this is. we love you and are praying for you.
and one last thing you need to add us to your blog! :)
it www.southcott.blogspot.com

The Pingel Family said...

Hey guys we are glad to hear you are at least getting some answers. We hope you are doing well and we have also been praying for you! And by the way, we might be coming south soon, so if we do we should get together.

Becky N. said...

Brea, we're so so so glad that you got a diagnosis! It sounds like a very promising one, too, with your history. I hope the medications will help, and life can start getting back to normal for you quickly!

Dan said...

Hey guys, we came across your blog from Brea's Facebook page. We hope all continues to go well. We should get together sometime!

The Parkers said...

I am so glad that you are getting some answers and hopefully things start getting back to normal...and we DEFINITELY need to get together sometime this semester!

Ed & Sandy Stones said...

You have been in our thoughts and prayers. Glad that you are finally finding some answers. We love you,
The Stones
We also get to read your amazing stories through our kids blogs.
Yeah for blogs!

Sarah said...

Hey Guys, I'm glad you're finally able to work towards feeling better long term. We pray for you Brea. We got your Halloween card today. Thank you, the kids love getting mail. Hang in there.!!