September 19: Results and Improvements

Sarah’s EEG has been read but her neurologist wants to consult with other epileptologists before giving his suggestions to me. He thinks Sarah’s moments of waking with a start may be seizure related. The results that came from whomever read her EEG also indicate that they are possibly seizure related. Even though that confirms my suspicions, learning that initially had me feeling overwhelmed by sadness. I want my baby to be ok! I know she is 14 and not a baby, but that feeling of wanting to protect from harm never goes away. I also know this is probably good news in that maybe the solution is just increasing her meds a bit. If the startle moments weren’t related to seizures then we would have more of a mystery. 

Sarah’s bus situation seems to be resolved with a good and regular driver (knock on wood). The driver delights in the kids and engages them in activities while they drive, such as counting how many dogs they see. 

Amy’s PSSAs are almost done. Just a few more days this coming week. I learned that I can send a snack with her so that she doesn’t have to make it till the 1pm lunch. I don’t know how easy it will be for her to find time to have the snack, but hopefully that will work. She says she is usually one of the last kids to finish and she hates feeling slow and then it’s not as quiet in the final minutes. 

Amy had some math problems from her class work that she needed to finish at home. When I glanced at one and realized she needed to add more detail to her answer she imploded with feelings. It is hard to think when a problem feels overwhelming. After sharing ideas for how we could destroy the math sheet and after tears and snuggling, she was able to approach some of the problems again. While she did so, I talked with Carl. Together we came up with the idea of writing a new problem similar to the original but all about cats. I did so and showed it to her. She instantly understood how to go about solving it and explaining her answer. All I did was change the text from something about apps and data storage amounts to cats and their weight. So now we know for the future that if she is feeling overwhelmed or stuck about math, then we just need to translate the problem into Amy language of cats or witches. 

I am currently visiting one of my best friends of 40 years. We hadn’t seen each other for a year and a half. Friday night I attended a Pink Gloves Boxing class that she teaches. It was so fun, and it was a great workout. I’m still feeling it today. I wish that Pittsburgh had such a class. Yesterday we went for a beautiful walk in the woods, spotting a few small frogs and an ent (a baby newt). It is wonderful to be together. And I have slept incredibly well! 

Carl and the girls are having a Dad Weekend. Yesterday they went to a lake beach. When he sent me some pictures I marveled at our big grown-up kids. How did that happen?! I know Amy grew 1/2 an inch in the past month. Sarah probably isn’t growing taller anymore. But weren’t they just infants?!