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...

The Magnet

Lisbeth's Beautiful Women Mandala which I'm in the process of using to design some fabric for future items to put in Lis's Etsy shop...

You may have noticed in photos of Lisbeth that she wears a little pouch around her neck at all times...

Let's see what's inside...

It's a heavy duty MAGNET!

This special magnet is used to activate Lisbeth's Vagus Nerve Stimulator, which is located in her chest, just above her heart. Lisbeth had the VNS surgically implanted in 2002 in the hopes that it would help decrease her seizure activity. It is set (by computer at her neurologist's office) to go off every 30-60 seconds or so, but if Lisbeth feels a seizure coming on, or has a strong aura, or actually has a seizure, the magnet can be swiped over the VNS to activate it at any time. This can ward off a seizure or lessen the severity of a seizure (you can see us using the magnet in the video in the previous post...). We think that it has helped a bit, although it is difficult to discern because Lisbeth is also on several anti-epileptic meds. It's a mixed bag...

Lisbeth with one of her loving and dedicated helpers, Heather D'Alessio. Heather is the same age as Lisbeth (they attended Brunswick High School together) and has worked with Lis through Independence Association since 2003. God Bless her!!!

The Line Pill

Garry and I planned to have dinner together with Lisbeth last night at her favorite restaurant, China Rose. She loves the Chinese food. I picked Lisbeth up from her house and we arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before Garry, who was coming to meet us on his way home from work. Lisbeth's staff informed me that they had given her 1 mg of lorazapam at 5:00 because she was complaining about her eyes hurting and having the scary seizure feeling (aura). While we were waiting for her Dad, Lis began to experience strong seizure auras. This sometimes manifests by her eyes darting upward, and out toward each wall (forgive me now, but my dark humor has kept me sane throughout my journey with Lisbeth) and this song comes immediately to mind. Lisbeth says she sees the lines, as in an ocular migraine. These unusaul auras started to occur for Lisbeth a few years ago, and we described it to her neurologist. He brushed it off and said that this was just anxiety, and probably a behaviorial thing. He'd never actually seen Lisbeth going through this. He always was impatient, in a rush, with one foot out the door. (For the record, we do not see this doctor any longer. In fact, he had his license suspended for drug addiction. Hmmm, could explain his impatience...) I have never taped Lis having an aura like this before, and last night I caught a couple of minutes of it on this video. Lisbeth's current neurologist has instructed us to give Lisbeth her PRN lorazepam when this happens - Lis is obviously experiencing some sort of neurological disturbance - not a full blown seizure, just the edges of one. Lisbeth calls the lorazepam the line pill, because we give it to her when she sees the lines. Can you imagine anyone suggesting that this is behavioral?

It lasted about 1o minutes before her lorazepam kicked in, and then Lisbeth was able to enjoy her dinner. Thank God for meds.