Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Scheduled

Very shortly after returning from yesterday's trip to the Pediatric Clinic, I received a phone call with the times and dates for Nolan's EEG and neurology appointments. Apparently, they really did want to get him into the neurologist quickly-his EEG will be performed this coming Tuesday at Buffalo Children's.

The EEG is sleep-deprived, which means the coffee cart in the lobby had better be stocked and in full operating capacity. We have to put Nolan to bed three hours after his normal bedtime, and wake him two hours before he would normally wake. He can't have more than five hours of sleep altogether, and he cannot nap in the car. We have some experience with this fun trick, as his ABR's in the early days of his hearing loss diagnosis required sleep deprivation. Keeping a very tired toddler awake on a two hour car ride is going to be a difficult feat.

Hopefully he'll nod off to sleep after we stick all the glue and leads into his hair and get the test started. After our abysmal sleep study night, I highly doubt this will happen. Nolan can survive on surprisingly little sleep (to wit: the child doesn't nap and still wakes up for an hour or two every night).

We should have some answers very soon, though I have a feeling the technician will not be allowed to reveal the top secret results of the test to us. For some reason the medical profession likes to keep parents on the edge of their seats, waiting for results (and no, the sleep study results are still not in).

We should know whether this is behavioral or physiological by March 1, when we have our follow-up appointment with the neurologist.

6 comments:

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Oh my goodness. You must have some kind of Wonder-Powers if you can keep a sleep-deprived toddler awake for a 2 hour car ride!

But glad they're moving things along for you.

Julie

xraevision said...

Oh, I remember very well our son vs. ABRs. The sleep patterns of small children certainly is a mystery. X has been refusing to nap in the afternoon for almost three weeks, yet wakes up at 3 a.m. and sings songs for an hour or two every night. Since our sons are almost exactly the same age, I am wondering if this is a normal stage. Mummy and Daddy are functioning in a highly caffeinated sleep deprived state lately. Wishing you lots of sleep and coffee respectively.

tammy said...

So glad you got an appointment that fast, hate that you have to play the waiting game after! I just don't understand this either - does it truly take that long for results?!? Good luck with keeping him awake and then turning around and trying to get him to sleep. What a trooper you have!

rouchi6 said...

I am wishing you all the very best for the tests and am really praying they are nothing to worry about. You have a long night ahead and hope all goes well.

Apraxia Mom said...

WOW! Moving at the speed of light on the doc appts. Good for you! I hope you get some answers that day. Which makes me wonder: where the heck are those sleep study results?

hugs to you, Leah!

AimeeTheSuperMom said...

Nolan, CJ, and Liam all have that minimal need for sleep in common. CJ wakes up for a couple hours in the middle of every night. I have to lock his door from the outside to keep him safe. (Otherwise he would likely burn the house down while we all slept.) Liam sometimes takes a decent nap, but typically it's a shorter one. I'm one tired mama most of the time. I'm sure you can relate.