This should be a short post because not much has happened over the past month. In my last post I told you that he had his VNS replaced because the battery was almost dead and that we had to wait a couple of weeks after surgery to have it turned on. The neurologist turned it on and updated all of the settings on September 21st. The day after that he had a post-surgery follow-up with the surgeon to check the incision on his chest. Looks good.
The VNS is pretty automatic. Once the neuro sets the parameters, it does its thing. It is an amazing little device. How someone figured out that sending electrical impulses through a nerve in the neck to the brain could control seizures is beyond me. But that’s basically what it does. The neurologist programs it to send a certain amount of millivolts (dosage) every X amount of time. This is a little bit of trial an error to get it right, but once it’s there, it just works. The VNS also comes with a magnet that is used to “swipe” across James’ chest over where the VNS is in the event that he does have a seizure that isn’t controlled by the VNS. If swiped with the magnet, the VNS immediately sends a higher impulse to the brain that zaps the seizure.
When James had his VNS replaced, we got two new magnets. Instead of trashing the old magnets or throwing them into our crap drawer never to be seen again, Stacy decided to reuse them as refrigerator magnets. Lol!
Last weekend we had our annual family photo session. Here is a little sneak peek. We probably won’t receive all of the pictures for a couple of weeks. As soon as we get them all back I may either put them in their own post or incorporate them in one of the usual monthly posts.
You can’t tell by the pictures, but it was a bit cold out there, which was a bit rough on James. He was having some respiratory issues the following day, but a little boost of oxygen was all he needed. He was fine the day after that.
In school related news, we received a welcome letter from the high school at the end of September. Really? He just started 8th grade. He doesn’t start high school until August of next year, which is what, like ten months from now? Let’s not rush the kid. Or the parents. We are not ready! We’re trying to figure out how we can have him held back a year or two…or forever.
We know he eventually has to go to high school, but he is in such a good place right now. He even made it on to a teacher’s Instagram page:
One more picture to finish off this post. I often wonder what goes through our dog’s mind. Like why she chose to lay down here on top of James’ pulse ox cord. Was she guarding it so nobody tripped over it? Did she want to lie down next to James? Or did she just decide to lay down there for no reason at all?
