A Very Encouraged Neurologist

I spoke with Dr. Mower, Raquel's neurologist, a little while ago regarding my concerns about her clumbsy walking and the bruising. He said that Depakote is known to affect both of those areas and put in the order for blood work (sigh) to test her platelet levels. Even though she is on a pretty low dose, it may need to be lowered a bit more. The blood test needs to be done before I give her the morning Depakote dose, which is usually between 8:30am - 9:00am.

When he asked me if I've noticed any changes in her and I said yes, he immediately wanted to know more. When I described the changes is in her sleep patterns - particularly at night - he was very excited and said that showed the medication is definitely doing its job and altering the abnormal brain discharges. I also told him about how she doesn't hit herself in the head, unless very tired or distressed, that she no longer is constantly moving, and that her teachers reported she is able to stay focused in activities for longer durations. He said those are behavior changes, and another really great thing. I believe the last comment he said to me was, "This is awesome!"

So, now I need to go to Children's Hospital and have the blood test done. He said there is no urgency in doing so, but, of course, the sooner the better. Once that is complete, I call his office the next day and review the results with him and go from there. It was nice to hear him sounding so encouraged. :-)