Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
A Fish Out of Water... My Two Year Old Son
Sat, 10/25/2014 - 19:45I currently have three children.... And one on the way. When it comes to a chronic illness, I thought our family Socrates that off the list with my oldest son. He was born with a rare genetic disorder which we have dealt with since his birth.
I have always been thankful my other two children were "typical" because his care has been so great.
However, as luck would have it, my youngest son started having seizures. One seizure followed a concussion, The other followed a spike fever.
I thought these two seizures might be just be two random events, but his doctor insisted on a EGG. Sure enough, his EGgwas abnormal and they showed me that during the EGG he had a total of six "mini "seizures.
We then got the diagnosis of epilepsy.
They put him on Keppra... And ordered him an MRI with the follow up in three months.
I know anything and everything there is about my older son's diagnosis. However, when it comes to epilepsy. I know nothing.
such as..
Can I take him to a standard preschool?
Who can I trust to watch him?
Should participate in sports?
What if he has a seizure at night and I do not know?
My husband is deployed right now and I just feel like I have nowhere to turn.
does anyone have any good information about where I can read up on pediatric epilepsy?
thank you in advance.
Many answers really depend, e
Submitted by Amy Jo on Mon, 2014-10-27 - 01:37
Many answers really depend, e.g. if your child stops breathing during a seizure or has heart issues, you might want to get a pulseox for nights; if generalized seizures often need emergency meds, video is ok for when you are awake but you might want something that warns you instead because you also need sleep unless there is another person who just happens to be awake at odd times; etc... Most seizures are not emergencies so maybe missing night seizures for some would not be worth the monitoring that is needed for other kids. So all the answers really depend. If you are very research oriented, there are lots of papers that summarize specific areas.. this site is generic and good for basic framework, not good for highly specific information once you know you need certain detailed info. I would bet your experience learning so much about your other child's medical condition will give you an understanding of how long dealing with a medical learning curve might take, along with judging credible sources, understanding various implications, how you deal with coping. Having learned about one medical condition for a child in depth and dealing with various specialists has certainly given me perspective on learning about epilepsy for our family and, oddly enough, I appreciate that there is not much extra with regard to testing/hopitalization so at least that isn't bad.