well, there have been 5 seizures so far this month while on 25 mg of clobazam/day. To make it easier i will just post the letter i wrote to my family: We had our appointment with the neurologist today. I brought Darren's seizure diary and a list of questions and it was actually kind of disappointing. I was all ready to prepare to go "drug-free". He actually pulled up the MRI and showed me the pictures of Darren's brain. I asked for the report and he gave it to me... (finally) Then i asked for the EEG report and he gave me that (finally) He says he does not believe that it is Becers anymore. We asked about going drug-free and he said that considering all of Darren's story so far, there wouldn't be a pediatric nerologist in Edmonton that would suggest going drug-free. His plan is to keep trying drugs until he finds one that works for Darren. I told him that i wanted a "solo" drug, not a mixture and he said that that was his goal as well. He mentioned Valproic acid... which raised a red flag in my mind from what i've read. (infertility and liver damage etc...) Then he said that actually he would try Darren on Keppra which is a new "designer drug". The older AED's (anti-epileptic drugs) were mostly created to treat other illnesses but worked for epilepsy as well. There is a line of newer drugs that are designed specifically for epilepsy and this is one of them. It's list of problems is not good either. The MRI showed the same subtle abnormalities as last time... The EEG showed a lot of epileptic activity and he was on Clobazam at the time of the EEG. He's averaging 2 seizures/month (tonic clonic---or grand mal... whatever generation of terms you are from) He is tolerating the Cobazam, so seizures seem to get a little less "progressed" each time there is an upping of the drug.... and then he goes right back to the same hard-core seizures once he has been on the clobazam for a little longer at the same dose. The neurologist says that we would put him on Keppra and increase the amount for 5 weeks and if he is seizure free we would slowly eliminate the clobazam. He doesn't want to wean off of the clobazam while raising the keppra as he says then you can't tell what is really going on. (one of the side-effects of weaning off an aed is seizures) So! This seems to be the next thorny path we will be taking. Curt and i both left the hospital with a pain in the neck and blasting headaches. I can't wait for the new house and i can sit in that steam shower and sob. But for now, there is a new drug to research and a dirty house to neaten up and boxes to pack, and, and, and... On a lighter note, we butchered the remainder of the chickens yesterday... (i guess this isn't a lighter note for the chickens) So that job is done. Darren helped so much this year and really enjoys it. We bought 30 chickens and butchered 29 --only one died! i think that is a record. Anyways, we will talk to you soon. --jess