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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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Amazing Snoball...

Snoball was amazing today at school! Henna was in PE and she was walking around the gym. Sno was in a down and got up and started to go to her. My initial response was to put Sno back in a down but I let her leash go and she went directly to Henna. Mind you, Henna was half way across the gym. Sno jumped up on Henna putting her front paws on her chest and started licking her mouth to alert. 
She wouldn't stop. Henna had many seizures right after Sno alerted. She continued to alert throughout the day. At the end of the day Henna had a neurology appt. She was sitting up on the exam table and Sno was trying to figure out how to get up on the table. Henna got down and Sno jumped up on Henna pinning her against the wall to alert. I am SO proud of her! One other thing she did was alert on a little girl in the waiting room who had come up to say hi. I asked her father if she has seizures and he said yes. I gave out 4 Paws for Ability's website address to 4 people today.
Henna also went to her first CBI, Community Based Instruction, with her school.  She and three other students went to Red Lobster where they folded silverware into napkins.  They work for an hour and the restaurant feeds them lunch.  We all had a fun time.  Henna would work for a little bit and then tell her aid, Mrs. Martin, that she could do the rest.
Before we wnt on the CBI we all enjoyed cookies ith powdered sugar all over them.  Mr. Rodriquez, Henna's teacher, was eating over Sno while she slept and when we looked at Sno she was covered with powdered sugar.  It was SO funny because Sno didn't even know it.

We are having another meeting with the school concerning the aide handling Snoball.  The school feels an aide is sufficient for Henna's safety and for them to provide a free and appropriate education.  Our attorney is not buying it.  She will press on if need be and go to due process which I don't think the county wants.  Hopefully we'll work something out.

Have a great fall weekend!
Jan




Posted by Jan at 5:23 AM

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