Recuperating

Lisbeth and I worked on her shrine today. We are painting these little shelves PINK.

Her hand got scraped during one of the several seizures she had this week. Lis began to seize and fell on the ground when she and her helper went outside to get the mail - she sometimes goes down fast and without warning - she has broken fingers, lost teeth, and cracked her head open. Usually we can catch her, but sometimes we can't.

When I arrived at Lisbeth's house today she was spacey, but up and about. When she has a cluster of tonic clonic seizures like she's had this week, it takes several days for her to come out of the fog. She paces and wanders, is at times non-verbal, or she repeats the same phrases over and over. Here are some of Lisbeth's time worn perseverative phrases:

Oooooh, little monkey, monkey!

Oooooh, George Washington!

Ooooooh, Bill Cosby!

Plus and take away! Plus and take away!

Ooooooh, what a cute little BUTT you got there!

You're fat as a cat!

You gotta fart!

You got the GAS from your big fat BUTT!

Chadder cheese! (sic) Chadder cheese! Chadder cheese!

Sometimes Lis trots quickly from room to room. (When she was younger, if someone was seated and she was trotting by, she would come right up and wack them hard in the back of the head! We learned to duck...). This is an example of the perseverative behavior she displays on these days. She'll line up her crayons over and over and over, or flatten a washcloth repeatedly. She snaps her fingers and claps rapidly and loudly (we call these snappy/clappy days). She also draws. I have a collection of her postical artwork - it is strange and powerful. Lisbeth has no recollection of these days. When she was younger and experiencing 12-20 grand mals a month, she had only a handful of clear days. The rest of the month was a black hole.

So today I helped Lisbeth get washed and dressed, then we worked on a little painting project and had lunch together. After lunch Lisbeth laid down to rest and went into some petite mal seizure activity. She typically has this aftermath of less violent seizure activity while she is recuperating from a big seizure cluster. By the time I left, Lisbeth was sleeping comfortably. Tomorrow she will be a little bit more clear...

The Brain Doctor

Lisbeth Miller
A Brain One

The Brain Doctor (Lis-ism), Dr. Heidi Henninger of Maine Neurology in South Portland.

Checking Lisbeth's Vagus Nerve Stimulator. It's good to go for another 4 months.

Lisbeth had her quarterly appointment with Dr. Henninger yesterday. We are going up on her Vimpat - she's only at a half dose right now - and this will hopefully reduce some of the auras and underlying seizure activity that has been the cause of much recent discomfort for Lisbeth. We are also working with Lisbeth's psychiatrist on finding another anti-depressant. Lis was on Zoloft for 15 years and it had become ineffective. We're looking at Cymbalta which is an anti-anxiety/anti-depressant that also works to reduce neurogenic pain, another problem that plagues Lisbeth. One med that can handle two problems would be good, as Lisbeth has to take so many drugs already. It's always a balancing act, and always a guessing game. One neurologist told us years ago that he considers neurology more of an art than a science. I have to agree. Lisbeth is currently in the middle of a seizure cluster - she's had three tonic clonic seizures in the past two days. This really knocks her out. It's been about three weeks since she's had a cluster, though, and for someone who used to have 12 - 20 tonic clonic seizures a month, this is not bad thing...