Ellie's improving!!!

More than a year after her diagnosis with Childhood Absence Epilepsy, I am pleased that to be able to tell you that Ellie is finally seeing some improvements!

After the unpleasant side effects she experienced during the first few months of taking the medications, the neurologist had been approaching her care with caution.   Finally in November she was having so many seizures per day (every couple of minutes),  that we felt like we just had to be more aggressive with her treatment and hope for the best.  

With our negative report and her teacher's worry that her seizures were starting to interrupt the class (because she had started clicking her tongue during the seizures),  the neurologist made a plan to double her dosage over a period of a few weeks.  We were a little tentative about the big increase, but knew that we had to give it a try...for Ellie's sake. 

Much to our surprise, not only have the numbers of seizures reduced significantly, but she has also retained her energy and sprouted a creative/focused streak that we've never seen before.

It seems as though her brain is so thrilled to be interrupted so many fewer times a day, that she literally cannot contain her enthusiasm for expressing herself in creative ways.  For hours each evening she writes books...

makes her own dolls...

 transforms paper plates, boxes, and toilet paper rolls into beautiful creations... 

and even bakes her own pies...

All completely of her own accord.    

We know she still has a long path in front of her, but we're excited to see a side of her that's been hidden away for a while!    Yay!