Just Wait and See

A blog about hope, despite the disabilities.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Best Of

I Could Have Been a Neurologist

July 3, 2010 by Ellen Moore Leave a Comment

I’m not suggesting I want to change anything about my life. But if I knew my life was going to be what it is, I might have followed my natural interest in science and headed to med school to become a neurologist.

We had to see Catherine’s neurologist this week because she’s started having what we call “episodes.” That’s probably a euphemism for seizures, and we may just be in denial about it. I’m ok with that.

We showed our neurologist 4 videos of Catherine shaking. In some, she stops when you touch her. In one it’s rhythmic. In 2, it’s just hard to tell what’s going on because the nurse didn’t turn on the light. (OK, I’m still thankful we have nurses). But the neurologist didn’t really know. And we ended up determining she needs a sleep study. I’m skeptical, but we’ll try it. Here’s the interesting part (at least to me)…

When researching Catherine’s most recent EEG (the test they do where they hook little electrodes to your scalp that read your brain waves), she had more normal activity on the left side of her brain. I said, “Well that makes sense because she’s more active on the right side of her body, Delrey identified her right foot works the best for pushing switches and learning communication. But – her brain bleed was far worse on the left side! So much so that her VP shunt is placed on her right side because that was the better side according to her MRIs.

Maybe I’m the only one this fascinates, but it is completely contradictory. She should have better function of her body on the opposite side of the best side of her brain, meaning the left of her body. And she should have better brain waves on the less damaged side – wouldn’t you think? But she has better function via EEG waves in the worse side of her brain. And she controls her body best on the right. Wow!

A NICU doc told me they really only started learning about the brain in the 50’s. The territory is so new. I think it’s pretty amazing, and I can’t wait to see what we learn about the brain over Catherine’s lifetime. Maybe some of it will actually be helpful – not just interesting.

Filed Under: Acceptance - or Not

« Come on Mommy, Dance!
Hope the Surgeon Isn't Hungry »

Comments

  1. Dan says

    July 3, 2010 at 1:03 am

    You are much smarter for having a healthy interest and having not gone to med school.

    Reply
    • Ellen Moore says

      July 3, 2010 at 4:18 pm

      Love knowing that! Thanks. Also thankful for all those who plod through med school 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi, I’m Ellen

I’m just a mom making my way, but my way is a little different. And yet, very much the same. I have a 13-year-old daughter, Catherine, who was born at 25 weeks and weighed one pound, nine ounces. Despite a very severe brain bleed, she lived and inspires me every day with all she works so hard to do... Read More…

Subscribe to the Blog

Get all my posts right to your inbox and never lose one again!

Let’s connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Three Of Us Together

Categories

  • Acceptance – or Not (13)
  • Best Of (40)
  • Doubt (10)
  • Faith (6)
  • Gratitude (11)
  • Hope (31)
  • Love (4)
  • Making a Difference (4)
  • Matter of Fact (41)
  • Moments (21)
  • Normal (11)
  • Perspective (17)
  • Uncategorized (10)

Search by Dates

Never Miss a Post!

Sign up to gets posts to your inbox. I will never sell your email - don't even know how!

Thanks a bunch! Let me know if there are topics you'd like to see me cover.

Search this blog

Copyright © 2021 · by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress