I have epilepsy, a side-effect of my Cerebral Palsy. I went to my neurologist a few weeks ago and we were all happy to know that I have not had a seizure for over 4 years now. This is probably because I take medication to prevent them. From a first-person perspective, seizures are awful, nightmarish experiences. Since I haven't had one in a while, the neurologist arranged for me to have an EEG this coming Monday in to help us consider if I still need to take my medicine.
Having an EEG is only slightly less horrific than having a seizure. At least for me, the purpose of the test is to study the brain under certain conditions to determine if I still has epilepsy, but the only way this can be done is by attempting to provoke a seizure. Here are the steps that I remember the doctors took from my previous EEG:
1.) Apply a sticky gel with a rough texture all over my head.
2.) Attach sensors to my head to map brain activity.
3.) Turn off the lights and lie face up on a bed with a strobe light positioned six inches above my face.
4.) While keeping my eyes closed, the strobe light is turned on and left on for long intervals with short breaks in between. The light is bright enough to be seen clearly even with my eyes closed.
5.) Turn off the strobe light, then try to sleep for 30 to 45 minutes.
Since I only have seizures when I am asleep, I think the purpose of the nap afterward is to test if the strobe's effect could cause a seizure, although I am not sure. I am skeptical that it would because I've had several seizures before and never once have they been due to strobe lighting.
I'm dreading the EEG, but putting it into perspective helps, it could be worse. After all, it is slightly better than having more seizures. I guess that's something...
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