Happy 16th Birthday

Today is Dustin's 16th birthday...I didn't get any pictures, but I'll try to remember to before the day is over. He's kind of had a rough day. He still doesn't have his memory back since his last seizure on Tuesday. The neurologist expects it to come back so we're just trying to be as normal as possible. He has been hanging out with his friends a lot trying to get to know them again. My mom, dad and I went with Dustin to the school today to talk about him returning tomorrow. He is going to try going back the full day, but his meds still make him kind of tired and with not knowing anyone or anything about the school it could be a little overwhelming so he can leave if he gets too tired. The plan if he has a seizure is pretty simple. He has always been able to tell before it happens and although he doesn't remember now what this feels like we've tried to tell him so he can be aware that if he feels 'off' he needs to let someone know. The nurse will be contacted immediately and she will administer the ativan to stop the seizure. They are to then immediately call 911 and the neurologist. Dustin and I walked around the halls once. I tried to tell him where things were, but the school has changed a lot since I went there! He did want to go meet the art teacher, though. She showed him the spot in the school where she had asked him to paint a mural and told him he can still do it and take as long as he needs to. Dustin knows that he draws and has seen his drawings, but hasn't drawn anything in over a week. My dad suggested that he might want to try to see if he remembers anything. We're not sure still what is going on with his memory and my mom might try calling the neurologist again tomorrow. He became very agitated and manic again today and we thought he might have another seizure, but he took some of his sedatives and seemed a little better; he wasn't happy, though, about being so tired. I asked him if any of his friends had called to wish him a happy birthday. He said he had a lot of messages on the phone at midnight, but then he teared up and looked away and said he didn't know who they were from. That sucked. Tomorrow might be hard for him too. Please, keep him in your prayers as he makes it through his school day. I know he is worried that people may not believe him about

the memory loss, but it does seem to be real. I did find some information about transient epileptic amnesia. This is caused by silent seizures in the temporal lobe. We know that Dustin's seizures are originating from the temporal lobe so maybe something like this is happening. This is probably why his memory and emotions are so affected after his seizure as this part of the brain controls those functions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_epileptic_amnesia...this link tells a little more about this type of seizure. It's difficult to get any answers right now. Epilepsy is such a broad disorder and seems to vary so much.