The day started off with Gabriel's EEG that the neurologist had ordered at our first appointment on Tuesday. I wasn't quite sure what relevence an EEG would be, but went along with it, thinking at this point, I will do anything to get answers. I worked all night at the hospital, and my husband dropped the kids off at my work so Gabriel could get the test done. Gabriel, as always, was very talkative and making everyone laugh. The nurse sat him in a chair and explained the whole procedure. They measured his head and put red dots all over his head. Then scrubbed each dot with a salt solution, then attached little wire electrodes with cotton balls on his head and ears. 21 in total. Gabriel was hesitant, but did as asked and did just fine. The nurse said the test would take at least 20 minutes and sometimes they need to sedate the child to do it.The monitor had lines on it, recording the electrical impulses of his brain. When he blinked, you could see it on the monitor. She had him close his eyes and do some counting. Then she took a strobe light and had him close his eyes and did different variations of strobe lighting. Then he had to open his eyes and blow a pinwheel, and then they just carried on a conversation. The nurse explained to me that what she was looking for, was seizure activity. She said that a lot of times, ADHD gets misdiagnosed, when in fact, the child has mini seizures, as many as 4 3second seizures a minute, and that is what is effecting the attention of the child, not actually an attention deficit disorder. She explained the if he was having seizure activity, the lines on the monitor would spike. I'm assuming each line on the monitor stood for the placement of each electrode, and in turn would tell the neurologist which part of his brain would be misfiring.
When the test was done, we came home and I gave Gabriel his medication (I didn't want him to take it before the test to skew the results). Gabriel told me he didn't feel it working today. No complaints of belly ache, nothing out of the ordinary. But I feel that this afternoon was a break through.
Gabriel is a competitive skater. I understand, he's 5, but a lot of 5 year olds at our rink are very determined. Yes, there is a fine line between forcing your kid, and just teaching discipline. Gabriel is a great skater with great potential, but just won't try the hard items because they are too challenging. Another characteristic of ADHD. Just not wanting to even try something new in fear "it's too hard".
Gabriel skates both singles and pairs. Yes, he is 5 and has an adorable 4 yr old partner. They are just heartwarming to watch. I literally cry when they compete for the sheer fact that they are soooo cute. He even lifts her! BUT that being said, Fridays, lesson day, are VERY stressful for me. He gets so excited and takes it out as aggression. Sometimes he pulls "Little Mady" too fast, sometimes he squeezes her hands. The poor coach has to literally chase him and wrangle him back in. Today? Different story. I literally had tears in my eyes. He did their whole lesson staying right by the teacher. No chasing once, and no reminding. The real kicker? This is HUGE....they ran 2 routines with literally NO ONE telling them what item comes next. Between himself and his partner, they remembered the whole routine...which is new! I couldn't believe my eyes. This was a first. I seriously consider this his first break through. The first time I could see hope for my energetic little boy.
Side note: He WANTS to skate. I've never forced him. If he's having a bad day, he doesn't skate that day. I don't want him to feel overwhelmed, or resent the sport. he does it on his own time and when he asks to put his skates on, I help him. There is no forcing him to skate. The only thing I ask, is if he has his skates on and goes on the floor, that he practice, and not get in other's way. If you want to play, do that off the floor.
That being said....good day today! Excited for the future.
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