Article on Karlie

This is an article that was in our newspaper Sunday.......Front page even.



Family logs lot of miles battling childhood epilepsyBy Kasey Fowler, Staff Writer
“She would be walking or sitting and just fall over.”Amy Earhart noticed last October her 3-year-old daughter, Karlie, was falling over at random.“She would be in the middle of a conversation, lose balance and fall over,” Amy said.Her parents became worried one night when these episodes happened almost continuously.“She did that like 20 times in 45 minutes, so we took her to the emergency room to rule out a brain tumor,” Amy said. “They did a CAT scan and said everything looked normal.”Karlie was taken the emergency room on a Friday. Doctors there asked her parents to schedule an appointment with her doctor on Monday.That’s when Karlie was diagnosed with childhood epilepsy. According to epilepsy.com, epi-lepsy is a neurological condition that affects the nervous system.It usually is diagnosed after one has had at least two seizures not caused by a known medical condition, such as alcohol withdrawal or low blood sugar.Epileptic seizures may be related to a brain injury or family tendency. Most of the time a cause is un-known. Karlie’s twin brother, Killian, is not affected.“I’ve asked several (professionals). They said he was fine as far as seizures,” Amy said.Karlie saw a neurologist in Enid, but he was not a specialist in childhood epilepsy, Amy said.“We don’t have any pediatric neurologists here in Enid.”Neither St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center or Integris Bass Baptist Health Center specifically treat or have programs for children with epilepsy.“They sent us to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City,” Amy said. “We went to them a couple of times, but she kept having seizures.After their visits to OU Medical Center, they were referred to a hospital in Texas.“They set up for us to go to Cook Children’s Hospital in Texas, but there was a six -week wait,” Amy said.Amy refused to wait six weeks to get Karlie help.“We called for an appointment in Tennessee,” Amy said.“We basically drove 11 hours for a doctor’s ap-pointment.”They drove that distance with hope and no guarantee Karlie could be helped.Once they got to Tennessee, Karlie immediately was admitted on a emergency basis.“When they admitted her, she was basically in a constant seizure, and it was even worse when she slept,” Amy said.Shortly after admission, Karlie was started on a video EEG.The video EEG meant Karlie had 20 or more sensors placed on her head to monitor brain activity. She also had a video camera on her all the time and a person visually monitoring her in the room.If the person in the room thought he saw a seizure, he would push a button. Someone would go back to the video and brain scans and look at what happened visually and in the brain.“She was having sub-clinical seizures,” Amy said. “They are all happening in her head.”An MRI was done and again confirmed there were no tumors in Karlie’s brain.Karlie’s new doctor, James Wheless, did not think surgery was a good option.“Dr. Wheless told us she was not a good candidate for surgery because her seizures were generalized over the right side of her brain,” Amy said.Karlie spent about a week in the hospital and now is on a combination of drugs to try to control her seizures.“The doctors are very confident we can get it under control,” Amy said. “It could take a year to two years to get completely under control.”Karlie has been on several different combinations of drugs to try to control her seizures.“Seizures are like fingerprints,” Amy said. “No two kids are the same, and they can’t be controlled by the same drug or combination of drugs.”Karlie’s drug combination could change again, even before the next trip to Tennessee, planned for mid-October.“We will go to Tennessee about every two months until they can control the seizures,” Amy said.Amy has been making the trips to Tennessee without her husband because he has had to work.“My mom goes with me. Mom has helped a lot. We have a lot of help from family and friends,” Amy said.Killian hasn’t been taking Karlie having seizures well, his mother said.“He gets jealous of the attention, really jealous,” Amy said. “We tend to ask her a lot because we can’t see. He doesn’t understand that.”Karlie’s mom is hoping the seizures will go away on their own, but it isn’t a sure thing.“Because they can’t find a source, she could grow out of it, but it is a wait and see thing,” Amy said.Karlie is just like any kid when she isn’t having problems with her epilepsy, according to her mom.“When she is having seizures she gets tired,” Amy said, “When she isn’t having seizures you can’t tell any difference from any other kid.”

update

OK. So I have not done real well at updating. I'm sorry for that. Things have been crazy around the house. We had the start of College football season 2 weeks ago. (huge thing at my house) and then last week (after the very first game) I decided we would scrape popcorn off of my ceiling and paint the walls.........major messy job. so we had to clear out my living room completely and then do all the work, get the carpet cleaned and then move it all back in. Huge ordeal. Then we had a garage sale last weekend.

Anyway, Karlie is doing well. I think that her seizures were doing really good once we got back from Memphis. She would sleep so hard that she would talk in her sleep. She would say the funniest things while she was sleeping!!!!! but she has kinda quit that for now. I think that the seizures are creeping back up.....But she told me the other day that she likes her new applesauce (her applesauce with out the valium in it) But she also told me that she is still having little bitty seizures.....they are the sub-clinical ones because I don't actually see them. But I can hear the catch in her breathing and see the tiredness in her eyes. I have been in what seems like nearly constant contact with the dr's office. They are a bunch of really great people Dr Wheless's nurse is very nice. I have never met her, but talked to her a phone. Anyway, I will try and update more a little later, but that is the latest for now.


sorry I have been so lax about the updating.

Message from Karlie

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gdcgfysr-w8ae09a8s8ISWSD89E7780000m oivhvbbvghgtytt6t6tttty97fd67t8yyydy6satop,lkvvlogff--99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
8yyuhyyfgjggfgvcggfcggffgffcccvcvvbb mlll,kkooppop8u7yws3er/';.luyxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzmjjiue
j7ujt8ujuujg8yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyddddddddrruu ilj ces
cccftdrrddddddddddddrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsaye533333333333333
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Karlie just wanted to type everyone a message and tell you thank you for all your prayers. We all appreciate them a lot. She says hi and we hope to see you all soon!!! Love you all!

Latest

OK, so it's been a while since I've updated everyone, and I'm sorry about that. But Killian and Kelly got here, and things have just been crazy busy around here. Karlie's little face just lit up when Killian and Kelly walked in the door. She said "My bubby!!!!!" and he ran up and gave her a great big hug!!!!

So, anyhow, we got moved up to the EMU, and into the care of Dr Wheless. This is the guy that people have told us that patients come from all over the United states to see Dr Wheless. In fact our EEG tech told us today that we were very lucky to get him. And was a little baffled at how we arrived under him. Especially starting out with Dr Lynn (apparently they are "competing" dr's, or at least under 2 different groups) Anyway, I think the last update Karlie had just had a Spect test maybe, and then we were going to bet a base line test the next day. But she had too many seizures that night. That was even after 25 mg of Valium......now that is a serious dose of Valium. You can not begin to imagine what a drunk 3 and a half year old looks like, but at the time it was very funny.....she licked her frog's eye (she thought it was a lolly pop) and she giggled and kept playing with her numb lips. It was kinda funny. Anyway, Dr Wehless told us that she was not a good candidate for surgery because she was having seizures over most of the right side of her brain. But he felt he could get a pretty good hold of these stupid seizures with medication (especially now that we know what kind she is having.) He said that he has several options, we just have to find the right combination. So we are here at least another night. We are hoping to break outa this place tomorrow. I just want to get home and enjoy my own bed, my cool house (it is too warm in this room) and a nice ride on the motorcycle. Those are the just a few of the things I miss.

Anyway, I am not sure what will happen over the next few weeks, but Karlie can't go to daycare because of the steroids she is on. They lower her immune system and they don't want her exposed to anything. We were supposed to start summerhill on Monday. But, we also have to trek to Kansas City. My grandpa passed away this afternoon at about noon. And his funeral is Wednesday. I tell you, when it rains, it pours right? So we have a 9 hour trip back to Enid tomorrow (hopefully) and then we will be home Tuesday to get things together then it's back on the road again on Wednesday for another 6 hour trip to Kansas City. I tell you, I feel like a traveler this week.....feel like I've dang near been all over..... Anyway, so please pray for all our safety traveling so much over the next couple of days. (I'm sure everyone in the car would ask for it, especially if I'm driving. you guys all know how I am.....)

So that is the scoop, we are heading home tomorrow and then after some time, we will be doing another EEG (not sure if we will have to travel to Memphis or not) to see if things are helping, but let me tell you, it is glad to have my spunky, happy, baby girl back. It is awesome

Things are moving

OK, so here is what has happened since last I updated.....We were moved to the EMU (epilepsy monitoring unit) We moved up here yesterday. From what mom found out, a kid got moved out, and the one that was supposed to be moved in was, for some reason unable to get up here.....so we got the spot. We spoke with Dr Wheless (who we have been told by many that he is by far and away the bestest around. If you look up on the Internet, his name is attached to most epilepsy studies. And Jules and Kelly are very happy that he is an OU graduate.....) He ordered a SPECT test. Now I don't know much about this test, but what they do is have to order in these radioactive isotopes (they are not kept here because they do not have a very long life) so they were not even sure that they would be able to get this test run this week because they usually run them earlier in the week. So that was a blessing to get to do this so soon and not have to wait until next week.

They have to wait for Karlie to have a seizure and then they have a minute to get the dye injected into her body. Then they have up to 6 hours to the pictures of her brain taken. This is supposed to be just a stronger MRI. They had her lay perfectly still (they had to sedate her for this test also.) and then this machine went around her head and took pictures. They are supposed to do the same test tomorrow, but they don't have to wait for a seizure this time. This is so they can get a base line scan. However, Dr Wheless came in today and told us that it appeared that she had more seizures when she is sleeping (this would explain why when it's time for her to go to sleep, she says that she doesn't want to because it makes her seizures bad.) This isn't too bad right now, but in the long run, they can cause her to have learning disabilities. Right now Dr Wheless's plan was to try and just slow down her seizures when she sleeps so they can get the baseline scan tomorrow. So he said there were several ways to work on this but the easiest is to try and give her Valium and see if that slows down her seizures when she is sleeping. She just woke up from her nap and she is in such a good mood.

Right now we are waiting for Killian and Kelly to get here. We haven't seen them since Sunday. Wow do we miss them. We can't wait for them to get here. Karlie is getting a little restless lately. She has been in bed since Monday evening. She has been hooked up to EEG wires since Monday evening (with the exception of one day) She isn't really allowed to get up and walk around. She is really doing well considering all that. She has won over just about every nurse that has walked in the door. They think that she is the most adorable thing in the world (I'm sure they say that to all their patients, but it sure helps Karlie warm up to them a little better.)

OK, I think I've rambled enough here. Every time I get on here to type this I get another call or another nurse walks in to take vitals or to check on her. So if I repeat myself or ramble, I am sorry.

I also wanted to say to all our friends and family, thank you so much for all the calls and prayers. We appreciate all of them. We try our best to answer all the calls or return them as soon as we can. If we are a little slow, or we miss something we are very sorry. But feel free to call and check on us at any time. We don't mind it at all!!!

Thanks again! Love and kisses to everyone!!!!!

The surgeons have been called in......

OK, so we spoke with Dr Lynn today. He says that she is still having the constant seizures. He wasn't ready to start her on the new medication yet. He doesn't like to be pessimistic, however, he doesn't think that the medications are working (obviously yes.....)He wants to try it, but is pretty sure that it won't be will the cure all answer, so he wanted us to speak with the neurosurgeons. So, after the MRI, Dr Lynn came back in and told us that he had spoken with the neurosurgeon team and they were interested in her case. They reviewed the MRI and the took a quick look at the EEG, and came and talked to us. They mainly just asked us some questions (you know, the same questions we have been asked over and over again...is she developing normally, has she lost any skills, when did she walk, what do her seizures look like, which side does she look to when she has them, blah blah blah blah blah.....) and then told us that they were going to talk to their bosses and see if they thought that she was a good candidate for surgery. They said that she may not be (I'm hoping this is something they just tell everyone to not get their hopes up) anyway, they were going to go back and talk to Dr Boop and see what he thought and they would be back to talk to us tomorrow (Wednesday) If they feel she is a good candidate they will be running more tests on her. They figured that since we were here, they would do everything they could while we were here. This is by far the best place in the nation. They do about 4 brain surgeries a week. This is what they do......So we find out tomorrow if they are going to do more tests. We are looking at possibly doing a PET scan and a MEG scan. These are just better and better MRI's.

Have I mentioned how much I love this place???? Things have just fallen into place. And everyone here is sooooooo nice. We have just gotten the royal treatment. Everyone takes great care of us. They all have the cutest southern accents. And almost all of them are smiling all the time. But we have just been very very pleased with the love and care that all the nurses and Dr's have shown us here. We are in the most capable of hands here. We are just praying that these neurosurgeons are able to see what they need to see on the scans and that they are able to fix our precious baby girl.

Let me just say, that Karlie has been the best patient. She lets the Dr's and nurses look at her, she smiles at them, she talks to them. She breathes when they tell her too, she lets them look in her eyes and ears and list to her heart. She is doing awesome. The phenobarbital (sp?) is really making her loopy. She can't walk, she slurs her words, she has trouble eating I do not like her on it at all. I hope that they don't put her on it long term. It is awful. I hate seeing her on it.

Karlie's in the Hospital!!!!!

OK, so here it is......we made it to Memphis just fine (thanks to dad's GPS......which I will never ever leave home without ever again.....) W met up with my old salesman and his wife and they showed us where we would be taking Karlie to today (which ended up being the wrong place. Right, but wrong) any who, we made it to our appointment, Karlie was not really having a good day at all. Lots of seizures, and she didn't sleep well at all last night. Mom couldn't believe how restless she was. It's no wonder she was so tired. So, back to Dr Lynn. HE IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!He looked at Karlie and talked to us, and asked our concerns and within about 20 minutes he told us that he didn't know what we were there for (second opinion or as a new patient or what) but he wanted to get her admitted. He did not like at all, that she was on so much medication and was still having seizures. He did believe us that she was having too many to count. We basically told him that we told the family that we would be here as long as we needed to be. We brought extra clothes and we would be more than happy to stay as long as he wanted us to.

So we got admitted immediately. Withing 45 minutes we were up in a room, and within another hour we were hooked up to the EEG video monitor. Within another 45 minutes or so, Dr Lynn had been called and said she was having "sub clinical seizures" which means that to look at her you see nothing, but her brain is constantly flashing (for lack of a better word....but the seizures are like a constant lightning storm.) and that was why she was falling so much and just looked so drained because she was constantly having these seizures. And he told mom that he was very happy that we brought her to him when we did. They are a very aggressive hospital as far as getting her in and getting her seizures stopped. They ordered phenabarb (sp?) STAT for her, to calm the seizures. She was still showing the "drop" seizures on her eeg, but the other ones had stopped. She is currently passed out in the bed right now. We had a difficult time getting her to the bathroom earlier. Poor little girl was soooooo worn out and all the drugs, she was just drained!

So, thank you for all the prayers, we are here, and we are being very well taken care of. I can not begin to say how pleased we are with the care we are already receiving. Tomorrow we are having an MRI and the dr wants them to disect the right side of her brain on the pictures very thinly so they can try and determine where her seizures are coming from. Did I mention that we are very very happy with our decision to travel ab out 1200 miles round trip just for a dr's appointment????

So we will keep everyone updated on how things are. We are trying to take lots of pictures, I will figure out how to add them later.

Thanks for checking on us!