Now the waiting begins

After all the excitement of the surgery, now comes the slow, boring waiting.  And not waiting for anything fun - just waiting for seizures to start.  Julia's seizures have a natural rhythm to them, and we knew we were in one of her lull periods, so the doctors are trying to stir up her system by removing all of her anti-seizure medicine and by sleep depriving her.  Unfortunately, this will probably result in Libby being sleep-deprived as well.  If this were a baseball game, we would be watching a no-hitter right now, with just zeros up on the scoreboard.  No seizures Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  So we are hoping things get going today.

One of the emotions a bit odd during all of this, is the feeling of excitement.  There is, of course, the anxiousness of messing around with someone's brain, but the potential for Children's Hospital to add an important diagnostic tool to their repertoire has everyone fired up.  When we met in pre-op, you could sense just how excited the surgeon was, and all of the staff have been very interested in every aspect of this procedure.  There are even a couple of children you are tentatively scheduled to have the same procedure, pending the outcome of Julia.  It really opens up a whole new ability to see deeper seizures, or seizures that previously were difficult to pinpoint.  For me, being around a group of people who are so intent on finding better ways to help children overcome some very debilitating illnesses has been quite thrilling.  You don't really want your child to be the guinea pig if you can help it - on the other hand, she is the first person Children's Hospital in Birmingham has performed this surgery on, and they are paying very close attention to her.

Just because I have nothing better to post, this is the view out Julia's window.  Right in the center, very small, is the Vulcan.  Also, in the foreground, you can see the helicopter pad on the roof of an adjacent building.