A MIRACLE!

Henna was 2 years old when she was admitted to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury. She had been thrown against a concrete wall by her biological father for crying too long. She had two depressed skull fractures, old blood on the brain from previous abuse, a lacerated liver, collapsed lung, suspected sexual abuse, and shaken baby syndrome. Henna coded while on the way to the hospital via helicopter and was brought back to life only to go into surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. She was not expected to live through the night. Henna was in a coma for one month hanging on to life. Then the miracle happened! Henna woke up and was able to move all her limbs and speak, shocking all of the medical professionals. We took Henna into our home and shortly after her arrival she started having seizures.

Henna's journey continues as we try to control her seizures. She received the Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) on Feb. 4, 2011 at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC. The VNS will send an electrical impulse to Henna's brain every 3 minutes for 30 seconds to interrupt her seizures. Over two months we have increased the electrical current and we have seen no change in her seizure activity. It looks as though Henna is in the third of children who receive a VNS that sees no relief from the VNS. We are very disappointed! We have started her on a new medication in addition to her current medications. Maybe it will help.

On August 6th, 2012, Henna had a full corpus callosotomy. This surgery is for people who have generalized seizures with no focal point. The corpus callosum is a band of nerve fibers located deep in the brain that connects the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain. It helps the hemispheres share information, but it also contributes to the spread of seizure impulses from one side of the brain to the other. A corpus callosotomy is an operation that severs (cuts) the corpus callosum, interrupting the spread of seizures from hemisphere to hemisphere. Seizures generally do not completely stop after this procedure (they continue on the side of the brain in which they originate). However, the seizures usually become less severe, as they cannot spread to the opposite side of the brain.

Henna received a white Labradoodle, Leo, from 4 Paws for Ability in Oct. 2010. We sent 4 Paws 2 shirts a week to help train her dog. One shirt was when Henna had a seizure and they used it for her dog to smell the chemical change during her seizure. The other shirt was when Henna had NOT had a seizure. This helped her dog differentiate between the two scents. It's a fascinating process. We trained for 10 day in Ohio with Leo and a trainer before bringing Leo home.

Leo had been going to school with Henna but started to bark and growl at different people when they came into her classroom. We worked with Leo's barking and growling when people would knock on the door and for a while he seemed better. He is very protective at home also. He then barked and growled at some boys who came into Henna's classroom and had to be removed from school. The trainer at 4 Paws said that some dogs bond so closely with their child that they become protective. Leo took on Henna's classroom as another home and felt he had to protect her. Sadly, because of his aggressive behavior, Leo can no longer be a service dog. The trainer said Leo would behave lthat way with any child he bonded to. Just his nature. We will keep Leo as a pet. Leo LOVES being just a pet. He still alerts to Henna's seizures and lives to get his hot dog reward!

Henna now has Snoball, a beautiful Golden Retriever. Snoball was born June 3, 2011. She is so sweet and a bundle of energy! Sno is doing an excellent job alerting to Henna's seizures BEFORE she has them! She is alerting up to one hour before Henna has a seizure. Sno goes to school with Henna and proudly wears her school ID badge. Snoball will be a great seizure alert dog and will serve Henna well.

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

#10 Day Training with Snoball

This morning Sno tried to eat Henna's muffin but I pried it out of her mouth.  She is going to have to be watched around food!!!
Everyone is getting excited for graduation tomorrow!  Sno and I have our public access test tomorrow at 9:40 am and then we go back to 4 Paws to do paperwork, get tags, and get Sno's vet records.  At 2:30 we'll have a graduation ceremony and celebration.
Chris left to go to Great Lakes, IL around noon for Darrell's graduation from Navy boot camp.  Today was our 32nd anniversary and neither of us remembered until after Adam and Becky wished us a Happy Anniversary!  Too many distractions.  We had a good giggle about that.
Today there were two different news channels in  4 Paws doing stories.  It was fun watching them tape. 
Jeremy went over introducing our dog to school, creating a training routine, introducing our dog to other people, other dogs, family pets, and flying with a service dog.
We also worked on obedience, seizure work, and distractions.  Henna loves to pretend to have a seizure.  Sno barked better today and Henna rewarded her with a tasty treat.
Sno licked Henna again today 2 different times.  Sno didn't want to stop licking her mouth.  I got her to bark after she licked Henna.  An hour and 50 minutes later Henna had her first seizure of the day.  Sno is alerting anywhere from 17 minutes up to 5 hours before Henna's seizures.  Jeremy said a dog will usually start alerting before a seizure around the same time frame depending on how big or small the seizure is.

Phantom "lapping" his girl.

Henna and Cody talking about their phones.
Posted by Jan at 4:33 PM

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