Jenelle's Journey

Just prior to Jenelle's well baby visit, I spoke with another Mom from our daycare who is a speech therapist. She asked me if Jenelle was having seizures, and I answered quickly, "No". She then asked, "Do you know what an infant seizure looks like?"... "Uh, no!" She suggested that I call Dr. Phillip's office and ask them for things to look for in an infant seizure. I made the call, and they provided me with lots of information, and suggested I keep a diary of Jenelle's behavior for the doctor to review at our next visit. Sometimes you can find a pattern. I learned that an infant seizure is not what we typically think of in a seizure, like a Grand Mal seizure in an adult. An infant seizure can be very subtle, and sometimes can only be detected by a stare or sudden widening of the eyes. Some infant seizures can have a jerk or two, like they are off balance, or can even be a change in breathing. A child usually does not have a full Grand Mal seizure until they are a little older.

Over the next few days, I started to notice some of this behavior in Jenelle, especially during meals and in the mornings. I mentioned this behavior to Dr. Patel at her well baby visit, and she told me to ask Dr. Phillips for an EEG exam (I don't know the technical word for it, but it is an exam that monitors the brain waves for seizure activity.) That night, I emailed Dr. Phillips with a description of some of the behavior I saw in Jenelle, and he responded quickly that he wanted to order an EEG, and he thought it was a good thing to explore. He also suggested we try to video tape some of this behavior.

Whether or not Jenelle is having seizures, we are not sure, but hopefully this test will give us some answers one way or the other. So, once again, on to the insurance authorization waiting game!