Today we went up to Great Ormond Street Hospital to hear the results of all the tests they have done on R following her stroke/seizure episode earlier in the year. And it would seem, when taking everything into consideration, that it was most likely a seizure and not a mini stroke after all.
So what does that mean? Well, in the immediate short term it means that R has stopped taking Aspirin, and so within a week or so the consistency of her blood will be back to normal - so not bruising as easily as she does now, and not bleeding all over the place when she cuts or grazes herself. This also frees us up from the daily petit filous saga!
But if it was a seizure, it could happen again - or not. There is no sign at this stage of epilepsy, but the more seizures she has the more likely she is to develop epilepsy in later life. They don't feel they need to do anything further at this stage, but if R was to experience more episodes then they would obviously see if there was anything further they needed to do. But we pray that it was a one off.
She is most susceptible when tired, ill, has a fever... So we will never leave home without a sachet of Calpol close by, and we may tape one of those forehead thermometers permanently in place, and even when R is 16 she will need to be in bed by 8!
Since coming out of hospital R has been fine, a perfectly normal five year old. She loves school and Girls' Brigade, and as you'll see from the photos a few days ago we had a great summer holiday.
Although there is of course some uncertainty over the future, and it is impossible to monitor a child all the time, we can see how God has looked after R so far, in her (to quote the consultant) short and eventful life, and we thank God that we can trust him for the future.
Oh yes...we also found out today that R also has a hole in the heart - but it's only small and will sort itself out in time!
