NEWS JUST IN FROM ALISON - Stella out of surgery!

Hi SST Community,

I just want to let you know that the first phase of Stella's surgery went smoothly- the surgeon described it as textbook.

She is now in her crib, but very sleepy.

She has wires attached to every limb, it seems, and small plastic balloons attached to her head to help drain fluid.

I have no idea how to handle her with all these wires! I am afraid I will accidentally pull something out. I guess we will get the hang of it.

We are waiting for the technician to hook up the wires to track the seizures.  Tomorrow she goes for another MRI to make sure the electrodes are in the right places on her brain.  And then we will record about 5 days of seizures and, fingers crossed, the doctors will get plenty of information.  They will even reduce or remove her anti- seizure medications if they have to.

So that is about it for now.

I will next be passing on tips as to how to keep a toddler who is a prisoner in a crib happy for 5 days.  If anyone out there has suggestions, please feel free to pass them on to me!

And lastly, thanks to everyone who has emailed us their best wishes and kind thoughts.

We will be in touch again soon.

X Alison (and Marcel)