EEG

Today our only appointment was an EEG. The EEG is used to detect activity in different areas of the brain. Caleb has had one EEG before a few days after his surgery, however the one today was very different. Last time he had one he was hooked to the machine for many hours but they didn’t care if he was asleep or awake. Today’s EEG was a sleep test.

The moment I found out they wanted Caleb to fall asleep I panicked. Caleb doesn’t always nap in the afternoon, and now here we are first thing in the morning with a test that wants him to lay still and go to sleep for 45 minutes to an hour. I was praying he would fall asleep, because asking a 4 year old to stay still for 45 minutes probably isn’t going to happen ha ha!

But Caleb always pulls through and he did amazing. He was not a fan of getting all the little electrodes with the wires put on his head. He cried through that whole process, but after that he calmed down. I laid next to him in the bed and the technician put on some rain and thunder sound effects to keep the room very calm.

The first 5- 10 minutes of the test Caleb was awake. He had to open and close his eyes several times, and then the technician placed a strobe light right over his eyes. With his eyes closed the strobe light went off in various patterns on and off for a couple of minutes. Strobe lights are known to trigger seizures in some people so I guess that is why they used the light for the first part of the test.

Next it was time for Caleb to close his eyes and relax and fall asleep. I have to admit for the first 20 minutes I stayed very still next to him but watched him the entire time. I was ready and waiting to have to calm him down or remind him to keep still, but within the first few minutes of him closing his eyes he fell asleep! I was so relieved. I think I ended up dozing off for the last 20 minutes or so of the test too ha ha!!

At the end of the test Caleb had to wake up and open and close his eyes again a couple of times and then the test was over. He did so well and I was so proud of him. The last hurdle was taking off all of those little electrodes. Even though I let him look in my camera to see how cool he looked he was not amused. He cried to entire time she took the wires off. I thought he looked like a cool robot but he didn’t think so at all. I am not sure when we will get the results of the EEG but we’ll be sure to share as soon as we know something.

We spent the rest of the day at home playing games and resting. His counts are dropping, as we know he usually bottoms out 7-10 days after his inpatient chemo. We have an appointment tomorrow to check his counts. He will also get his last dose of Vincristine which is a small dose of chemo to finish out this round. There is a possibility he will need a transfusion which will definitely turn our day into a long one, but we will be prepared for anything and hope for the best!