Kinsley has had a busy month and a half since I lasted posted. We added a third medication for her seizures at the beginning of May in an attempt to get them totally under control. She started taking a steroid which had been shown to work well with other kids with similar brain abnormalities at stopping their seizures. We were told it would probably work to stop the spasms while she was taking it, but that there was a 40-60% chance they would reoccur as the steroid was weaned. Unfortunately this is what has happened. She took a full dosage of the meds for two weeks and we saw a nice 10 days seizure free. We saw Dr. Sharp, our neurologist and had an EEG during this two week period. Her EEG at the time looked "pretty good" to quote the doctor. It was not a normal EEG reading, but he basically said it looked as good as it could without being normal. He said there was no sign of the spasms effecting her brain waves at all. That was WONDERFUL news. She was only showing a few spikes on her occipital lobe during sleep which several other MEB parents have told me is similar for their children. Those spikes are very minor and do not require any extra help. Also despite these happening during sleep he said her sleep waves look great otherwise and she has been sleeping very well of late which we are thankful for.
The main issue with this good EEG reading was it's possibility of being a temporary thing. We were told at that appointment that we would wean the steroid down for five weeks and then go back for another EEG to see how things looked without the steroid in her system (in case you are wondering, she cannot stay on the steroid permanently because it's not good for anyone to do so). So this past Saturday was the last dose of steroids that she would take. As we've weaned the steroid we have gradually seen the spasms become a bit more frequent again. There does not seem to be a pattern to when they occur. We've seen them five days apart, then two days apart, then three days, etc., and now it's been seven days seizure free again. We're very happy to not see them so often, but obviously we want them gone for good. Unfortunately Dr. Sharp did tell us it is possible we will never get them under control completely. But he did say as long as they stay infrequent and her EEG continues to look good like the last one then we can be happy. Obviously it would be best for everything to be normal, but this would be the next best thing. So our next step is another EEG and appointment with Dr. Sharp this week to see how things look now that the steroid is totally weaned.
As for Kinsley's progress in development we continue to see slow, but steady gains for which we are always grateful. One wonderful development in the past month has been Kinsley's first signs of understanding some language! Yea for receptive language progress! About a month ago now Kinsley started to respond to the words, "Give me kisses," without any puckering from us as a clue. She just leans right in and lays one on you. Sometimes it's closed mouth, sometimes open and even occasionally with a bit of tongue. Obviously, we're not fans of the tongue kisses, but we just make sure to keep our mouths closed! Now she doesn't do it every single time we ask, but she has done it sooooo many times now that there can be no doubt that she understands it! :) Then a couple weeks later she seemed to begin to understand when we say, "Yea, Kinsley! Yea!" She's been working on clapping for a few months now and has been able to randomly do it since about February, but only when she felt like it. So whenever she did it I would always say, "Yea, Kinsley! Yea!" And we would clap along with her. So suddenly she started to get it. We would be working on a skill for therapy and when she would complete the skill I would say, "Yea, Kinsley," and start clapping and a few weeks ago she began to copy me with the clapping which was very exciting to see. So then I would just be holding her and I'd say it again and she now will (sometimes) clap just hearing us say it! I know this may not sound like much to some, but for us it's wonderful to see the beginnings of her understanding us!
Clapping girl |
First time trying out her walker. :) |
Kinsley has also made great progress in self-feeding. About 80% of the time now she will feed herself finger foods right from her tray or plate! Yes! This is a great skill (and makes meal times easier on mama)! I'm still having to feed her anything that comes from a spoon, but I'm ok with that for now and she's making slow progress towards doing that herself too. She will pick up the spoon very rarely, but will take it from me sometimes and put it in her mouth, so progress. :)
Good self feeder! Good as in "feeds herself", not good as in "has good aim". ;) |
Cutie with glasses |
We continue to be amazed and feel so blessed by God at how well Kinsley is doing considering all the odds against her. We feel overwhelmed with love and support from all of our family, friends, and all you out there praying for our sweet girl. Thank you all!
1 Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
That sounds like some real progress! So happy for your cute girl! As a fellow messy eater, I love the 'feeding herself, but not with great aim' picture.
ReplyDelete:) Thanks, Carrie!
DeleteThanks for the update, sister! I can't wait to see her splash around in the water for myself.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Sounds like fantastic progress! Praise the LORD! We continue to pray and know that GOD is Faithful and Good. Thank you so much for the updates, it is so wonderful to hear details about progress. Have a great rest of the week!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post and your constant love and care for little angel Kinsley. My prayers and thoughts are with you and Luke.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog posts. Your love for sweet Kinsley just shines through your words. Love you all and always in prayer.
ReplyDeleteThat is so great that she loves the water so much! That sounds like it will be a great platform towards her progress. She is so cute in those pink glasses too. What an adorable little girl! How old is she now?
ReplyDeleteBonnie Rose | A Compass Rose