Today, March 26th marks the international day for Epilepsy Awareness. My very first post about today was back in 2013. I always find it interesting to look back on my previous posts and see how far we have or haven’t come and what has changed.
The biggest change is that we’ve discovered Ladybug is seizure medication resistant. We have tried all medications that are safe for her to take and none have had any positive effects on her seizure activity, especially since she’s been diagnosed with Lennox Gastaut Syndrome. The other thing that made me chuckle, but in a bit of sad way, was how I was so excited that Ladybug was a whopping 20 pounds. 5 years later she is now only 23 pounds (10.5 kg). Although, she is taller so that is a big win – she has grown from 71cm to 84.5 cm (28″ to 33″). That is 1″ a year.
In 2015 we talked about starting her on a Ketogenic blenderized diet. This never came to fruition. Given Ladybugs reflux and tummy issues, in order for us to get her on a keto diet she would need a GJ feeding tube. This bypasses her tummy and goes strait into her intestines. It would also mean continuous feeds and would impact her school time, and could still potentially cause an increase in reflux. The cons far outweighed the pros at the time so we opted to put that idea on hold.
After quite a bit of research we were able to get Ladybugs neurologist on board with trying CBD oil. Although it was very helpful in her overall health and wellbeing, it had no impact on her eeg results and seizures.
So here we are March 26, 2018, a lot has changed in 5 years. I’m still very hopeful that there will be some kind of treatment we will come across that will help with Ladybugs seizures. Perhaps now more than ever as the type of seizures she is having is slowly increasing. Last week Ladybug had her first absence seizure. They should typically only last a few seconds but her lasted over 2 mins, then this morning what started as a typical auditory triggered myoclonic seizure turned into an almost clonic seizure where her arm started shaking. Thank heavens she returned to baseline quickly afterwards. I don’t know what we will try next treatment wise – maybe a different strength of CBD oil, or perhaps there is a new pharmaceutical that might show positive changes in kids with LGS. I do know that I will NEVER stop trying to find treatments to help my little bug live the best life she possibly can.
Here is the link to the 2013 post that gives more of a background on Purple Day.
Little Ladybug Hugs 