#37 . Although, I want to make myself feel somewhat cautiously optimistic that it was "better", somehow. Near as I can figure, the new dosage of Keppra is 187mg and a little more. That's a lot, it seems to me; at least, it's a lot more than he was taking before, especially when you multiply it by TID. He's had four of the increased doses. But there was a noticeable difference in this seizure compared to the last four or five. It didn't take as long to get started - he did a small amount of preliminary jaw snapping, but the growling started almost immediately, and it continued as almost a high-pitched wail until it abruptly ended. The flopping was very strong - I was almost sure he was going to end up on the floor - but very quickly over. I would estimate that the entire seizure lasted somewhere between 20 and 25 seconds. It ended like the video seizure did - he just stopped flopping and growling, and laid still. There was a minimal amount of jerking after it was over, too - his tail did a sort of "whiplash" thing twice, but that was really pretty much the extent of it. He laid for at least a minute, possibly more. When he jumped down, he was more coordinated than he has been - he didn't fall or act shaky. He did start to walk off in the opposite direction of the kitchen, but when I called him to come and eat, he came and did eat. He seemed to want to walk, but it wasn't the pacing that I used to see with the earlier seizures, either; then, he would rapidly, almost seeming driven, walk in a huge circle all around the living room and kitchen. This time, he seemed more interesting in being in the living room/dining room than eating. Right now, he's meatloafing nearby. Waiting for me to finish this so he can go back to sleep, I guess. Except that the blanket's soaked.....
I don't know now who exactly to report this to. Dr. A., the neurologist from Ohio, said that Dr. L, the Internal Medicine vet from here, should be our contact, but I don't have any idea what her reaction to the dosage increase (and the lack of pressure to have an MRI) is. I feel like he's the one that should know that there are differences in this seizure, not that there's anything I want him to do or say, I suppose. But it would seem like he's the one who would know if the change means anything or not - if it represents positive improvement because the seizure was so much shorter, or if it represents negative/failure because it happened so soon after the last one, or if it doesn't mean anything at all. I wish I could just email him or something. I just realized that it's Saturday. Maybe next week, I'll call his office and ask what they think I should do. It would be different/better if I had more of a relationship with Dr. L., or if I could actually talk to her when I call, instead of relaying messages through a technician. And it just occurred to me that I don't know if there is any testing/bloodwork that should be done on a regular basis or what, to see if his liver's okay or his kidneys, since Keppra's processed through the kidneys, I believe.
Milk's been calmly sitting in the same place, looking around but not jerking or acting very post-seizure-ish for more than a half hour. I guess I'll record Scruffy's information and see if he needs to be shot, and then try to sleep a little more, till time for Milk's next pill. Not much of a life for any of the three of us, sadly.
