More visitors & surgery tomorrow

I can't remember exactly what I wrote yesterday, but after consulting with the both doctors (epilleptolotist and neurosurgeon), Sophia will have a resection surgery to remove the locus of the seizures in her temporal lobe. This appears safe and will likely have no negative effects. It's hard to say how much those seizures affect her because she has them when she is asleep and she rarely knows she's had one. Also, she doesn't yell or scream beforehand (she does with the tonic-clonic seizures) and she makes little noise during the seizure so we usually don't know she's had/having one. So if these seizures end, Sophia probably won't notice she's having fewer seizures. We are thinking she may gain some processing speed and increase cognitive functioning if/when she is no longer having the frequent "spiking" activity that seems to come from the left temporal lobe. (I don't really understand what that is, so I'm not sure how to explain it. On an EEG the lines spike, but not to the point of an actual seizure.)

One of the best things that could come from this, and I don't know how likely it is, is that we would be able to decrease her meds. It's unclear how much the medications slow her down compared to the spiking activity. But without meds she has uncontrollable seizures, so that has not been an option. There is no way to separate those. Something interesting to me about the observation in the hospital when she had the temporal lobe seizure. Her oxygen levels dropped too low briefly. When I watch these seizures at home, it's scary because it looks and sounds like she is not getting enough air. Apparently, she's not. After the surgery, I think she may be less sleepy and require fewer naps if she's getting enough oxygen every night. I think I've rambled a bit, but that's how my brain is working right now.

We had more visitors on Saturday after I sent a post. It was great because there was a steady stream all day and that really helped Sophia stay upbeat and entertained. Yesterday we didn't have visitors and that was okay. I think we both felt like being alone. Today, my mom, sister, dad and Gary's dad all visited. It was great. Sophia looks and feels really good today. You can see in the pictures that she looks like herself again.

 James, Rebecca & Soph

Tori with Sophia on Saturday

Courtney, Darrel & Sophia on Saturday

Gary has a picture of her incision with accompanying staples. It's really interesting, but we decided it is probably too graphic for a lot of people, so I won't post it. She has all of her hair and it will cover the incision, so it won't be noticeable unless her hair recedes or falls out someday. :)

Grandma (my mom), Stephanie and Sophia today

Grandpa (my dad) and Sophia today

Grandpa (Gary's dad) and Soph today

Courtney and Darrel also stopped by again today. They live really close and brought her some DVDs today.

OK, so I probably shouldn't tell this story because it might embarrass Sophia, but it's SO funny to me that I can't resist. So, the camera is aimed at Sophia's bed and all it shows is her in her bed. It is being recorded and she is also live streaming in the nurses' station. The nurses have come to the room a couple of times to ask Sophia to cover herself. (She likes to have her legs up and she tends to flash the camera.) :) Anyway, Sophia has been more careful to keep herself decent but apparently it wasn't soon enough for the nurses' station. Today I noticed that there is a Post-It note strategically placed on the screen. I started cracking up and am chuckling right now thinking about it. I told Sophia and she got a kick out of it too.

Well, her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30 so hoping all goes well. I'm confident that it will.