Arrived and Plugged In!

Jessi and I are at Primary's now.  I was here a year ago with Kira when she had her vascular malformation removed--almost exactly a year, in fact.  Kira was here at the end of September 2009.

Crazy to think that Jess and I will be here for almost a week, if not the full 7 days.  Truly, it feels like a vacation where I am sequestered to the hotel.  :)  Jessi is sequestered to her room.  There is a camera in the ceiling set to record everything that happens in the room so that if she has a seizure, they will have it on camera.  She is also connected to several electrodes--which is why she can't leave the room.

We can have visitors (thankfully!) so text me if you want to come and see Jessi.  There is a special code I need to give you in order for you to get in to Jessi's room, so if you don't text me and get the code, you can't get in.  However, my cell phone reception is spotty (darn TMobile) so if you don't hear right back from me, my phone doesn't feel like having a signal right then.

I thought I would include some pics from today.  If you've never had an EEG or seen someone have one, here's an explanation.

Small electrodes are placed in strategic places on the scalp.  The electrodes pick up brain waves, and the brain waves are recorded in a different room.  I have a lovely red button I get to push if Jessi starts a seizure so the techs know what time index to look for when they study the recorded EEG.

We are in a private room in the Neuroscience Trauma Unit.  The nurses here work with kids who have seizures all the time.  There are 4 rooms in our pod, and 3 of the 4 have cameras like ours does.

I can only imagine how boring it must be for the techs to watch hours of footage of kids watching videos, coloring, and reading.  If not for the wireless, I'd already be going a little stir crazy.  As it is, I plan on blogging, coloring with Jessi, critiquing a novel, blogging some more, and spending a lot of time with hulu watching Lie To Me, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Chuck.  Any other suggestions?  What's you're favorite TV show that isn't WB or Paramount, neither of which are on hulu....

Jessi has handled everything like a trooper!  She didn't complain or fight when the electrodes were placed.  She made some noise, but didn't even pull her hand away when they put in her IV, which took 2 tries.  It's amazing how sweet and tolerant she is!  She's just an amazing kid!  I would have whined more than she did, I think.

She's so alert and happy, I find it very unlikely that she will have a seizure today.  Also, they have informed me that they are going to get insurance approval at least through Tuesday because of the holiday.  Hopefully that doesn't mean we can't be discharged early if they get the data they need!

After they put all the electrodes on her head, they bandaged her up so the electrodes will stay where they are supposed to.  Pretty cool hat, huh!  

I remember when Kira was in here, room service was her favorite thing.  Ask her sometime if she likes the hospital.  She'll go on and on.  I'm thinking Jessi will like room service too, when she gets the hang of it.