I'll start this story almost two weeks ago, Friday at about 4:20 in the afternoon. I was at work, and I got a call from DW. She told me that DS2 was "floppy" on his right side, and that he fell down and bumped his head. My sister had been watching both boys at our house, and they had been napping until about the time that DW returned. DW asked me to call DS2's pediatric neurologist for consultation. The neurologist told me to get him to an ER, and to keep in touch with her. By the time I got off the phone, DW had figured out by herself that he needed to get to an ER. He was getting progressively weaker on the right side.
By the time we were settled in at the ER, he was very much worse. No movement or feeling on the right side, and he was drooling heavily out the right side of his mouth. The Dr. ordered a CAT scan to rule out stroke. I took him down to radiology, while DW fed information to the Dr.
That's when things started to get better. He hated the CAT scan, and started thrashing, including movement of his right arm and leg. That was good. By time the CAT scan was done, he was getting back to normal.
The CAT scan results were not consistent with a stroke. The Dr. was stumped, so he ordered DS2 to Children's Hospital in Detroit.
Children's was packed, but we got a room. DS2 was fully back to normal by 8:30. The Dr. at Children's diagnosed "Todd's Paralysis", a condition that can follow a seizure. He called our pediatric neurologist, and she concurred with the diagnosis. Normally, Children's would have kept him for further observation and testing, but they had no room. We had a choice - stay in the ER room at Children's, or follow up with the pediatric neurologist. We opted for outpatient followup with our neurologist.
Fast forward to one week ago, last Thursday. We had an appointment for an EEG with the neurologist. An EEG is the test where they stick a bunch of electrodes to the head to measure brain activity. They get the beast measurement while the patient is sleeping. So, we had to bring him in tired. Our appointment was at 11:00. So DW got up with him at 4:30, and kept him awake. He has a prescribed medication that typically makes him sleepy. I timed that perfectly for about 11:15, the time we figured the test would begin.
That's when the problems began. It seems that the neurology clinic has a new computer system, and they had no history of our insurance information. We need prior authorization from our primary care physician, and we did not have it. So we called our PCP, and asked, can you please send prior authorization. Long story short, by 11:45 DS2 was beginning to fall asleep, and we needed to take action. I ended up putting the $705 charge (EEG + office visit) on my credit card, and he got in and had his EEG.
It turns out that EEG results were not consistent with the type of seizure that would cause Todd's Paralysis. Our highly trained, well respected pediatric neurologist is also stumped.
So, we go back down to the Detroit area again on April 4th for an MRI, and a blood draw for testing mitochondrial activity.
He's been doing absolutely fine since the episode two weeks ago. No long-term effects at all.
What I'm thankful for is that we had the available credit, and EF to cover the $705 EEG/office visit. We wouldn't have two years ago. Things have worked out with the insurance, and we should be expecting a check in the mail within the week.
So THAT'S what an EF is for
March 21st, 2013 at 01:40 pm
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I am glad the little guy is doing better and that you have an EF.
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