Neuro update and dinosaur egg hatchlings...

Grace had a neurology appointment today, as a follow up to her hospital stay two weeks ago. Just as a little update- she has been having small breakthrough seizures that were overpowering the Keppra. We changed her dosage while we were in Rochester two weeks ago, from 750 ml to 850 ml twice a a day. So far, it seems to be working,and so we will continue on this. We also are going to start looking at something to help with her attention span. In general, I'm not big on those kinds of meds... brain injuries don't play fair though, so we might need to help her a bit.

And in other news...Grace has developed QUITE the imagination as of late. Last week, we were at WalMart and both the kids behaved EXCELLENT the entire time. So, at the end of the trip, I saw a bin with those big balls in them. You know, like the HUGE playground balls? We have tons of balls, but these are perfect for this spring weather that we're enjoying. Plus, they bounce off heads without causing damage, LOL. So, I told both kids they could choose a ball. Like a very normal boy, Josiah bounced his up and down and jabberjawed the whole way home about playing out back with it. Grace, on the other hand, carefully carried hers to the car, promptly put a blanket over it, and has slept with it in her bed every night since. She declared it " a baby dinosaur egg getting ready to hatch." Guess what we carried through Strong Memorial Hospital today at her appointment? Of course, Dr. Hughes asked Grace about it, and she got a VERY long, very spirited answer about where the egg came from, why it's round and not egg shaped, why it's purple, where the baby dinosaur egg gets it's air from, and how she's going to be a baby dinosaur mommy. Dr. Hughes listened intently, jotting down notes as she went. I asked her what she was writing, and she told me how AMAZING it is that Grace has any imagination at all, much less that great of one! She said many, if not most, pediatric traumatic brain injury patients never learn to think outside the box at all. They become very analytical. I loved her words- "I'm impressed, but I really shouldn't be. Grace likes to raise the bar."

Tonight, in celebration of a good appointment, a well behaved trip...and just because- our dinosaur eggs will hatch. (No, I'm not going to deflate the balls), Waiting atop the egg for her is a cute green stuffed dinosaur. And for Josiah a wheelbarrow for outside. Not that those hatch, but he's more outdoorsy.