Sam's VEEG story
	My Neurologist told my parents that I needed testing to see if brain surgery would help my seizures. I was not happy to hear this and did not want to think about it. My mom explained that just getting the testing did not mean I had to have the surgery. It would help us know what is going in inside my brain. So, I said, “ok.” The first step was seeing an Epilepsy specialist, called an Epileptologist at a different hospital. He said there were many tests but the first would be Long term seizure monitoring and an MRI. The first is also called a VEEG (Video Electroencephalogram). I was told it would be a couple of days, but could go longer if they needed more information. I supposed to go in on a certain date, but had to wait for someone else who was in for her testing. She had not had her seizures when I was supposed to go in so we were asked if we could wait. We had to find button down shirts to wear. We packed enough comfortable clothes to last a few days for my mom and me. She also snuck in a movie, some little goodies, and crafts to help keep me busy. After I checked into the hospital, Sandra, a technician, put the electrodes on my head. She used a special kind of glue so they would stay on a long time. It had to be done in another room with an air vent and fans. The glue smells strong and makes your eyes water because of the fumes. It is kind of like model glue to me. After she marked my head and placed them on, she used an air hose to dry it. I think there were around 25 electrodes to put on so this took kind of a long while. Sandra used a thing that looked like a syringe to put gel in each electrode. It was not at all sharp like one, though. The gel helps the EEG pick up the information that they needed to see whether I’ve had a seizure or not. Every day I was there, someone had to come in and put more gel in each one. The camera in my room was connected to a computer somewhere else in the hospital. Doctors, nurses, technicians and the Epilepsy Fellow could see what the EEG was recording. They could look at the EEG and match it up with the video to see if I had a seizure. They could also move the camera if I was on the bike. (The camera did not move when I went into the bathroom, though, which was a good thing. I would have covered it with my hat if it tried.) In my room I had a TV and VCR so I could watch movies and not just TV. I had to stay in bed. I thought that all this TV, along with the Play station games was going to be so much fun. It got boring pretty quick, though. One time I was painting when the phone rang. I did a lot of coloring on posters, some painting and drawing, used Legos that I brought, and made macramé things, too. People would call me almost every day to cheer me up. Sometimes I did not have much to say, because I was kind of down from being inside a long time. It was still really nice for them to call and I was always happier when I hung up. On my fifth day in my Nana and sister came to see me. Boy, was I glad to see them! Nana brought me a cool skate boarder t shirt to wear home. I was really glad to be able to play video games with my sister. (Don’t tell my mom, but she is not very good at play station!) We also played catch with this soft ball my mom had gotten for me that day. It was so fun since they could stand in the hall or around the room for me to throw it. (They had to crawl behind the bed a few times to get it, since I could not with all the wires glued on!) Having visitors was really good.
					Sam's View