Welcome back! As promised, today's post is EEG edition (that's electroencephalogram for all of you scientists out there. Say that three times fast.)!
The date is January 19, 2017. Don't ask how I remember these dates, I've always been good at remembering birthdays, anniversaries, death-versaries. It's a gift.
What is an EEG exactly? I'm so glad you asked. Well, as you learned from our scientist friends up above, it's an abbreviation for electroencephalogram. An electroencephalogram is a diagnostic test used by neurologists to monitor brain activity using electrodes placed on the scalp. These electrodes are just small metal discs with wires that are hooked up to a machine.
A technician uses different kinds of paste and tape to attach the wires all over your head in order to set up the EEG. There are about 26 electrodes to attach, so it takes over thirty minutes just to get ready. My glamour shot is below, since I know you're all dying to see it.
Dr. Welch the neurologist ordered a sleep-deprived EEG so that I could take a nap during the test and he could assess brain activity during sleep. The downside? Being limited to five hours of sleep the night before.
The technician was very friendly. It turns out she had worked as a sleep study tech for many years and so we talked with her for a while about that. She was actually related to a couple of Coffey County 4-H'ers as well. Small world!
Once she got me all hooked up, she asked me to open and close my eyes a few times, then to look up and down for a few seconds; to the left and to the right. This is done to get a baseline of my brain activity and eye movements (I think). Then the tech asks me a few basic questions such as my name, the current month, et cetera.
Then, it was naptime. Yay! I think she led me in a couple of breathing exercises before allowing me to drift off on my own.
Before I know it, it's time to wake up again! I was able to get a brief snooze in while hooked up, but it wasn't long enough if you ask me!
The tech tells me to expect the results in a couple of weeks. Have I mentioned before that one learns patience rather quickly when dealing with doctors--particularly specialists? If I remember correctly, the nurse leaves me a voicemail and tells me the EEG was fine except for an "electrical disturbance" on the left side of my brain. I listen to the voicemail on repeat and, shockingly enough, it says the same time each time I play it. haha! But really, what the frick is an electrical disturbance? Who says that in everyday conversation?
Phil: "Yeah, my microwave is all messed up. It was cooking a potato and then had an electrical disturbance for a second and then kept right on cooking" Janice: "Oh, yeah, my tv did the same thing last night. It got all electrical disturbance-y for a couple seconds and then got right back to those annoying Verizon commercials." What? No. I'm a human, nurse-lady. A non-science-speaking humannnn. Give it to me straight please. And if the results aren't straight up normal, please don't tell me in a voicemail. That's how you freak people OUT. We need to talk these things out with a real live human who speaks both science and English. I get that you're not the doctor, but you gotta meet me halfway. Leavin' people freaky messages like that will just cause you to be doing damage control for dayyys otherwise.
I'm fine, by the way. Since I totally know what an electrical disturbance is. I mean, the results couldn't have been that bad otherwise she'd have called it an electrical storm, I bet. Yeah, that's probably the right term for some really bad brainstorm (gah, these puns kill me!).
Anyway, I play phone tag with the nurse for a few days. Once I finally get to talk with her, she shares that the term "electrical disturbance" is all she really knows. As far as what that is or what it means- I'll have til my next appointment in March to find out more.
Fast forward to March 29, 2017 (about two months later):
Matt, my parents and I have taken another day off work and met in Topeka for another chance to speak with the almighty neurologist.As I recall, the wait to get in to an exam room was longer today. This, of course, is always fantastic.Who doesn't love waiting 45 minutes with three other people in a tiny room that's really only meant to hold two people?
Finally, Dr. Welch comes in. We exchange the usual pleasantries and then discuss the EEG. He pulls up the test on the computer. He skims it over quickly while muttering under his breath "mhmm" , "partial", "bicimial", "mhmm". "I see". He turns back to us, folds his hands and says "Ok, so you have an electrical disturbance in your left temporal lobe". Case closed.
Uhhhhh, what? "Sooooo what does that mean?" I say. C'mon, doc! I don't speak science! He says something to the effect of the brainwaves being abnormal or faster than normal on that part of my brain. Since this brain activity is abnormal, any other "triggers" could cause my body to have a seizure- whereas a normal person would be fine.
"Can we fix it?" Dad asks. Dr. Welch shakes his head."The idea is that we'll put you on medication, and that should raise the threshold in your brain/body so that it will be less likely to experience a seizure should any triggers come along," he explains.
"So, that's it?" I ask. "Unfortunately that's about all we can do at this point," he says. Allllrighty then. Well ain't that fantastic.
Next time on This Epi(lepti)c Life: Party time! I've hit the six month mark which means I can drive again! Yippee! What will I do with all of this freedom? But before I get there, there's just a couple tiiiiny hurdles that need to be jumped before I'm in the clear. Technicalities, right? Next time, on This Epi(lepti)c Life!
The date is January 19, 2017. Don't ask how I remember these dates, I've always been good at remembering birthdays, anniversaries, death-versaries. It's a gift.
What is an EEG exactly? I'm so glad you asked. Well, as you learned from our scientist friends up above, it's an abbreviation for electroencephalogram. An electroencephalogram is a diagnostic test used by neurologists to monitor brain activity using electrodes placed on the scalp. These electrodes are just small metal discs with wires that are hooked up to a machine.
A technician uses different kinds of paste and tape to attach the wires all over your head in order to set up the EEG. There are about 26 electrodes to attach, so it takes over thirty minutes just to get ready. My glamour shot is below, since I know you're all dying to see it.
Dr. Welch the neurologist ordered a sleep-deprived EEG so that I could take a nap during the test and he could assess brain activity during sleep. The downside? Being limited to five hours of sleep the night before.
The technician was very friendly. It turns out she had worked as a sleep study tech for many years and so we talked with her for a while about that. She was actually related to a couple of Coffey County 4-H'ers as well. Small world!
Once she got me all hooked up, she asked me to open and close my eyes a few times, then to look up and down for a few seconds; to the left and to the right. This is done to get a baseline of my brain activity and eye movements (I think). Then the tech asks me a few basic questions such as my name, the current month, et cetera.
Then, it was naptime. Yay! I think she led me in a couple of breathing exercises before allowing me to drift off on my own.
Before I know it, it's time to wake up again! I was able to get a brief snooze in while hooked up, but it wasn't long enough if you ask me!
The tech tells me to expect the results in a couple of weeks. Have I mentioned before that one learns patience rather quickly when dealing with doctors--particularly specialists? If I remember correctly, the nurse leaves me a voicemail and tells me the EEG was fine except for an "electrical disturbance" on the left side of my brain. I listen to the voicemail on repeat and, shockingly enough, it says the same time each time I play it. haha! But really, what the frick is an electrical disturbance? Who says that in everyday conversation?
Phil: "Yeah, my microwave is all messed up. It was cooking a potato and then had an electrical disturbance for a second and then kept right on cooking" Janice: "Oh, yeah, my tv did the same thing last night. It got all electrical disturbance-y for a couple seconds and then got right back to those annoying Verizon commercials." What? No. I'm a human, nurse-lady. A non-science-speaking humannnn. Give it to me straight please. And if the results aren't straight up normal, please don't tell me in a voicemail. That's how you freak people OUT. We need to talk these things out with a real live human who speaks both science and English. I get that you're not the doctor, but you gotta meet me halfway. Leavin' people freaky messages like that will just cause you to be doing damage control for dayyys otherwise.
I'm fine, by the way. Since I totally know what an electrical disturbance is. I mean, the results couldn't have been that bad otherwise she'd have called it an electrical storm, I bet. Yeah, that's probably the right term for some really bad brainstorm (gah, these puns kill me!).
Anyway, I play phone tag with the nurse for a few days. Once I finally get to talk with her, she shares that the term "electrical disturbance" is all she really knows. As far as what that is or what it means- I'll have til my next appointment in March to find out more.
↜↝
Fast forward to March 29, 2017 (about two months later):
Matt, my parents and I have taken another day off work and met in Topeka for another chance to speak with the almighty neurologist.As I recall, the wait to get in to an exam room was longer today. This, of course, is always fantastic.Who doesn't love waiting 45 minutes with three other people in a tiny room that's really only meant to hold two people?
Finally, Dr. Welch comes in. We exchange the usual pleasantries and then discuss the EEG. He pulls up the test on the computer. He skims it over quickly while muttering under his breath "mhmm" , "partial", "bicimial", "mhmm". "I see". He turns back to us, folds his hands and says "Ok, so you have an electrical disturbance in your left temporal lobe". Case closed.
Uhhhhh, what? "Sooooo what does that mean?" I say. C'mon, doc! I don't speak science! He says something to the effect of the brainwaves being abnormal or faster than normal on that part of my brain. Since this brain activity is abnormal, any other "triggers" could cause my body to have a seizure- whereas a normal person would be fine.
"Can we fix it?" Dad asks. Dr. Welch shakes his head."The idea is that we'll put you on medication, and that should raise the threshold in your brain/body so that it will be less likely to experience a seizure should any triggers come along," he explains.
"So, that's it?" I ask. "Unfortunately that's about all we can do at this point," he says. Allllrighty then. Well ain't that fantastic.
↞↠
Next time on This Epi(lepti)c Life: Party time! I've hit the six month mark which means I can drive again! Yippee! What will I do with all of this freedom? But before I get there, there's just a couple tiiiiny hurdles that need to be jumped before I'm in the clear. Technicalities, right? Next time, on This Epi(lepti)c Life!
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