Absence

This is not about my absence in posting. This is about Absence (pronounced in the French "Ab-sance") seizures.

The old-fashioned term for an Absence seizure is Petit Mal (as opposed to Grand Mal).

However, for me, an Absence seizure is so petit, comparing to grand is, well, not comparable.

In an Absence seizure, the person stares off into space for any number of seconds and then returns to the scene as if nothing happened. I originally witnessed this in a neurologist's office when I was speaking with a man about Beatles music. Suddenly he stopped, paused, stared into space for a few seconds, and then came back, continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened.

Soren has been having Absence seizures recently. Now he has had these before. But compared to his Infantile Spasms or Tonic-Clonics (Grand Mal), Absence were nothing to write home about. They actually mainly happened when I was weaning him off of Zonegran the fist time.

Now I am weaning him off again. And he is having them again. Now, I would love to blame the Absence on the wean. However, I noticed the first Absence the first night of his wean. Which means it was before any weaning actually took effect. (in other words, plenty of the drug was in his body)

But since then, he's had a number of Absence seizures. They are quick and relatively painless. I mean, they are a bummer to see and freak us out. But he comes back within 2 seconds and it's as if nothing has happened.

I am hoping that, while the initial Absence were not "drug-weaning" related, that the subsequent ones will subside once the wean is finished.

We'll see. He's still a perky, happy boy who hasn't had any tonic-clonics since June (knock wood).

But I'll keep you updated.

Amy