Medical Trip

[TheGreyRonin]

 In a few days I'm leaving for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN regarding my seizures. I'm supposed to be gone anywhere from a week to two weeks.

Wish me luck, folks; this is my last attempt to find a cause/cure. If they can't do it, I'm SOL.

[Cogidubnus]

You have my thoughts and prayers, good sir. The best of luck.

We will be awaiting your return.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Oi, rough.   The best of luck to ya', hope everything turns out alright.

[lucas marcone]

dude i hope everything turns out alright.... good luck man and my the force(and god) be with you.

[Netrogo]

Ouch >.< Here's hopin they can fix ya up right. May God, Buddah, Thor, Santa, and any other diety out there look out for ya.

[Angel]

Good luck. I'll keep you in my prayers.

[Brunhidden]

It is always hard to see someone go into such uncertainty, to find knowledge they may not welcome. regardless of how well any of us knew you we still care, and wish for you the best.

[Alondro]

If it's epilepsy, the techniques for treating it are vastly improved these days.  They can find the origin and either destroy the abnormal brain tissue or implant an electrode to zap it into submission.

Hope they find the cause quickly!  Nailing down the cause is halfway to the cure.

[Brunhidden]

The chances of successfully treating anything is drastically improving every day. if you keep your ear to the science world they're playing with all kinds of things that may be major breakthroughs soon- everything from selectively breeding 'smart' white blood cells to combat cancer to making a serum from gila monster venom to restore damaged pancreas cells for fighting diabetes.

ones that floor me are like the blind man they let see- they invented a microchip to translate between binary electrical pulses and neural impulses, drilled a small hole in his skull, and wired his brain to a pair of sunglasses with a tiny camera in them. it may have only been one man, but once they work out how well it works, how to do it safely, and how to improve its effects, then you see it everywhere... not too long ago laser eye surgery was at this very same stage of futuristic fantasy, and now theres whole companies centered around providing discount services.

[Toric]

It's rather sad that I saw where Ronin was headed and immediately thought about Captain Over's phone conversation in the movie Airplane!.

Good luck to you and good luck to whoever examines you. I hope you get this thing taken care of.

[Angel]

The chances of successfully treating anything is drastically improving every day. if you keep your ear to the science world they're playing with all kinds of things that may be major breakthroughs soon- everything from selectively breeding 'smart' white blood cells to combat cancer to making a serum from gila monster venom to restore damaged pancreas cells for fighting diabetes.

ones that floor me are like the blind man they let see- they invented a microchip to translate between binary electrical pulses and neural impulses, drilled a small hole in his skull, and wired his brain to a pair of sunglasses with a tiny camera in them. it may have only been one man, but once they work out how well it works, how to do it safely, and how to improve its effects, then you see it everywhere... not too long ago laser eye surgery was at this very same stage of futuristic fantasy, and now theres whole companies centered around providing discount services.

Actually, I'd heard about that. They had a kind of camera that attached to sunglasses and gave instructions so blind people could draw. I thought it was pretty cool; some people may say that's an unnecessary skill, but if you really wanted to learn how to draw or paint, that invention would be like a gift.

[techmaster-glitch]

I give my good wishes to Grey too. Get well soon, Ronin!

[TheGreyRonin]

 Well, I'm back. I'm still not sure how I feel about the results, so please excuse me if I ramble.

Mayo is a very nice place, with extremely capable doctors and staff. I would have enjoyed my stay very much if I hadn't been jittering from worry.

The results from my MRI showed nothing unusual. My bloodwork showed a few anomalies that are "normal" for me, but odd for most people, though none of them could possibly cause my seizures.

My EEG came back, and I quote, "abnormally normal". From the way it was explained to me, my EEG was so normal that it didn't have even show the normal variation that most people show.

End result: I was given a choice. There have been advances made in medications since I last took anything for my seizures. One in particular, Keppra, has a high level of success in controlling seizures with a minimum of side effects. I could start on Keppra and return home, or wait until an opening came up in the observation ward, then undergo observation until I seized a few times.

Between the holidays and their scheduling, the observation ward was full for at least another week, plus my seizures occur at wildly random intervals, sometimes months apart. I chose to take the medication option, with a provision that if the Keppra failed to control my seizures or caused undesirable side effects, I would return for full observation.

So. Still no cause, but I may have something that controls them. Failing that, I have a contingency plan in place.

I'm not thrilled, but I'm hopeful. And I think that's good enough for now.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Indeed. Given the possibly month-long stretch you'd have to be under observation for, that's as good as you're likely to get.


And, of course, us getting you back in the mean time is a plus ;-]

[Brunhidden]

perhaps they should use you in a study, i recall my sister was recruited for one so they could monitor her during her pregnancy... she had MS and they were tracking how pregnancy affected it.

who knows, you may show signs of a new trend, different disorder, or any number of things they NEED to know about for the next person just as worried as  you.


glad they have options for you, let us know how well they do

[lucas marcone]

good to have you back and even though they don't know the cause....at least you aint dead yet. always a plus in my opinion.

[Alondro]

Interesting.  An abnormally normal EEG.  That might actually be a clue.  The normal variation is caused by random spike trains and general background synaptic activity.  You might have something akin to a fault in your brain!  The latent activity might somehow be getting 'stuck' and build up potentials until there's finally a 'release' all at once. 

It might also be something of a cascade effect, when there is some background activity it can't stop and goes out fo control for a while until the synapses use up a certain neurotransmitter.  I suspect GABA interneurons!   

[lucas marcone]

if you do go into observation make sure they let you have a laptop with wireless access. or at least a good book.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Of course! He needs to access the forums, doesn't he? ;-]

[Brunhidden]

On second thought i think we just found out why his background synaptic activity has been turned off....

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

*snerk*

[TheGreyRonin]

 I doubt it's the forum's fault; it's rare that anyone accuses me of being even remotely close to normal.

Of course, it may be that the reason they haven't found anything is that I'm normal...unlike the rest of the world. Which would explain a lot.

Either way, the medication seems to be working so far, though it has caused me to be a bit more drowsy and moody than usual.

[superluser]

Either way, the medication seems to be working so far, though it has caused me to be a bit more drowsy and moody than usual.

Yeah, that stuff's powerful.  Also, for a lot of it, we don't know exactly what it does, other than work.

I was on Dilantin (also Tegretol and Depakote, but not at the same time) for a few years.  It turns out that Dilantin is also used to treat mood disorders, so the instant I was taken off, BAM!  Instant depression.

[TheGreyRonin]

 I've been on both Dilantin and Tegretol. Neither one had any real effect on my seizures, though Dilantin does turn me psychotic.

(Nothing quite like picking up your best friend and the chair he's in and trying to throw them through a wall because they didn't hand you a soda fast enough...)

Not even a twitch on the Keppra so far, though. And the drowsiness is a good side effect; I usually only sleep 2-4 hours every 24, and getting close to seven hours a night is akin to heaven.