My Real Life

So, today was the day that we went to the neurologist with baby Monkey.  Real Man had a doctor appointment in the morning, so we sent him to nursery school and then picked him up before lunch.

Since we had no idea what he was going to have to endure at the hospital, we decided to treat him with lunch at Wendy’s.  That went over very well. 

Not only was he thrilled to be there, but Real Man actually got the chicken sandwich from the commercial.  You know how your burger/sandwich never looks like it does on the big board over the counter or like it does in the commercials?  Well, for the first time ever, Real Man got the dream sandwich. 

We can never go back, however, because anything after that sandwich will be a let down.

After lunch, we headed to the hospital for the appointment.

We went up to the neurology wing and sat in the waiting room.  Off of the main waiting room was a sign that said “Children’s Playtime Waiting Room.”  How exciting!

We drew Baby Monkey’s attention to it and went in with him. 

We were greeted with this sign on the wall:

Ooookkkeeee. 

I get it.  I do.  Swine flu.  Sick kids all playing with the same toys.

So, Baby Monkey played with the one toy that was left.  The one toy that every sick kid who goes in there touches, bites, drools on, sneezes on, coughs on, and bleeds on.

Ah, he’s tough.  He’ll survive.

We get to the hospital, they do the routine check-up stuff like height and weight and then load him up with a bunch of stickers.  They send us up to the neurologist.

So, we met with the neurologist and he asked a bunch of questions and then had Baby Monkey do some neuromotor things like play with little toys, run after a ball, catch a ball and throw a ball.

He said that it was probably a seizure, but that it seems like a one-time deal right now.  He wanted us to get an EEG to rule out anything like epilepsy.  He said if the EEG was clear, and it doesn’t happen again, then we should just relax and pretend like it never happened.  If the EEG shows something, we’ll deal with that.  If the EEG shows nothing, but it does happen again, then we’ll need to come back for MRI and further tests to look for abnormalities in the brain, growths, etc.

So, he calls down to the EEG lab and says he’s going to use his charm to get us in right away so we don’t have to come back.  He tells them “I’ve got an adorable 3 year old here who I’d like to get an EEG for immediately.”  He said that he was sure Baby Monkey would be able to withstand the 40 minutes of the EEG and they said, “Okay…send him down.”

So, we head down to the EEG lab.   We sit down and at first, Baby Monkey just sits there, quietly, looking around.

Then, he starts putting the stickers on his head, pulling them off, saying “Ouch” when they pull his hair, then putting them back on his head again.

This continues for about ten minutes. 

Then, the woman who has been watching him the whole time we were there says to us “You know there is a children’s waiting room just around the wall.”

We didn’t know.

We stand up, take three steps, peek around a wall and lo and behold, a beautiful children’s waiting room, complete with actual toys.

Cool toys.

First there was this thing on the wall.

I think I almost had a  seizure watching this thing spin.

Then there was this awesome magnetic table.

There were magnets underneath and you had to move the boats around using the magnets.  That was fun.

There were other toys, as well.  Lots with magnets.  I thought that was interesting in a lab where they did lots of electromagnetic testing.  Interesting choices.

Anyway, then we go in.

Now, let me say this:  Lest any of you think that my child was getting a major neurological exam and all I could think about was taking pictures for my blog, the following pictures were taken at the request of Baby Monkey.  He kept wanting to know what he looked like.

First, with the Sharpie marker on his head.

Then, with all the wires attached.

He did great.  The test was 40 minutes.  Part of it was just him laying there, watching a video.  Then, he had to blow a shiny pinwheel for 5 minutes.  Then, he had to have a strobe light flashing in different intervals for another 5 minutes. 

There were lots of squiggly lines on the screen and neither Real Man nor I have a clue what any of them mean.  The neurologist said we can call on Friday for the results.  Story of our life right now…hurry up and wait.

So, as of today, I have no more answers for anyone than I had yesterday.  But, I can tell you that Baby Monkey is an absolute trooper and a pleasure to be with, under any circumstance.