February 22, 2011

Yo-yo

Bertrand displays his preference for music over toys.

PAST WEEK
The last few weeks have been tough as we've dealt with Bertrand's medication changes in an attempt to achieve further seizure control.

After a 25mg increase in Lamictal, Bertrand's seizures increased. Reducing the dose--in preparation for the addition of Depakote--brought seizure numbers down a bit. (Paradoxical seizures perhaps?)

This Thursday, we will be starting Depakote (valproic acid) in the hopes that it will nix some of Bertrand's nasty remaining seizures. We won't see it's full effects until late March.

Through it all, Bertrand's continued smiles and laughter have powered us and pushed us. We don't want to lose our happy, sweet, little trickster to the fog of seizures again.

TODAY
In this morning's occupational therapy session, Bertrand successfully played with switches, sensory bins, and other toys. He demonstrated his improved reach (gross motor) and finger usage (fine motor), along with developing memory and the comprehension of cause and effect!

Nana took Bertrand to his afternoon dance class. Apparently, he protested his new aide and demanded his Ms. E back! --attempting to lure her with eye contact and indignant squeals. Hopefully, his demands were noted and he'll have her back next week. :)

Bertrand's final coup for the day was reaching up and pulling off his Nana's glasses! We were all overjoyed and so proud of Bertrand's reaching & grabbing! We can only hope to lose earrings, break necklaces, and have lots of hair pulled soon! :)

4 comments :

  1. This is great! Congratulations to you guys!

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  2. Loved reading this post. We added Depakote to Cody's cocktail a few months ago and it's been the most effective AED for us so far. Good luck and congrats on these good days.

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  3. Depakote has also worked well for my ds also. We ended making some adjustments at first, due to nausea, but the seizures have decreased greatly.

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  4. Fantastic! Does he still have those little planets hanging up by his bed? They might be breaking out of orbit soon if B. has anything to say about it :).

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