Anyone NOT allowed to have a family member stay with you during a VEEG?

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momof3boys

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I was just wondering if anyone here had a VEEG done and wasnt able to have a family member stay with them?

I had to update with our insurance today, make sure they recieved the pre-certification and authorization forms, which they hadnt! My drs said they send those out two weeks prior to being admited, so I had to call the drs and leave a voice mail in regaurds to that.... but at that same time I was looking at the pamplet they sent with the map they also send to show you where to go... and it doesnt say anything about having a family member being able to stay with you.

My mom today asked about it. I'd like to know too, since were trying to arrange things around my kids being in school that week, and having someone with me, but also someone here with the kids, and making sure they are taken to school and picked up from school. My mom, husband, aunt and grandma will all be helping during this week that Im doing this.

But I just wondered if anyone here had a VEEG done and was not allowed anyone to stay with them? It says they have nurses on hand, of course. I just wondered about having a family member there with you overnight? is that something they allow in most hospitals?
 
Mom,

Just because it doesn't say you can have someone with you doesn't mean you can't. Call the hospital or your doctor's nurse and ask. One of the reasons my doc liked someone in with the patient is so the family member could press the little button on the box-thing around the patient's waist when the patient was having a seizure. It's not always obvious on the tape, and with yards of eeg material to look at, the neuro doesn't always see it.

My hospital had a reclining chair for someone who wanted to stay. They even had in-room meals available for $3 for one visitor.
 
Thanks! Im waiting to hear back from the drs office now in regards to the forms they were needing to send to our insurance. I did try to call again, but got the same voice mail when I called earlier and left a message about the forms. When they call me back about the forms, I will ask them then.

My mom wants my husband and 4 yr old to be with me! LOL I dont think that will work. Our 4 yr old first off, I dont think should be up there. At least during the night. I dont even know if children can visit in that area yet? I will have to ask that one too. And another, my husband has never seen me have a seizure before. So I dont think him being there, will help if I did have one and he didnt know it was a seizure I was having. Plus he is a really heavy sleeper and if I happened to have one in the middle of the night, he would totally out, and not be able to press the button for me. LOL

I'll ask these questions when I hear back from the doctors, hopefully they call me back today!
 
Ok, the case manager got back with me and said that my insurance did approve the 4 day stay which just what my insurance goes by, any other days I would need to stay, gets approved daily, as long as Im there.

She did say they have a chair that folds out into a bed, so I can have a family member stay with me. She recommended that I have someone who has seen my seizures before hand, so they know what to expect when a seizure occurs.

My mom still thinks my husband will be fine with staying there.... I guess we can give it a shot and see how a night goes. He has sleep apnea, so he would have to bring his sleeping machine, which causes him to go into a deep sleep. So, him being able to see him have a seizure, would have to happen while he is awake. LOL And our youngest son, who is 4 years old is really attached to us. I think it will be hard for him to not be by one of us. But, we'll figure things out. :)


Finding things to take with me has been a challenge! LOL I did keep some magazines that I have subscribed to, that I havnt read yet, I will plan to take those to pass the time. I have a couple other books I can take. I will take my lap top and cell phone with me. I forgot to ask if they have a dvd player. I guess I could take a couple dvds incase they do have one.

Im thinking about taking my son's baby book project that I was wanting to get to, to pass the time. But id have to get it all organized and make sure I have the items I need such as photos, etc to take with. Im up in the air about taking that with me or not....
 
Are they going to take you off your meds? If so, you may not be so bored. Time had a weird way of passing when they took me off mine.
 
Are they going to take you off your meds? If so, you may not be so bored. Time had a weird way of passing when they took me off mine.

They didnt say if they would or not. They did say they will do the strobe lights and sleep deprived nights though... My mom thinks just being sleep deprived with get my seizues going.
 
They didnt say if they would or not. They did say they will do the strobe lights and sleep deprived nights though... My mom thinks just being sleep deprived with get my seizues going.

You have a small child and you are not sleep deprived alreaady?! lol...
 
You have a small child and you are not sleep deprived alreaady?! lol...

I have three small children! all BOYS! LOL

(6 yrs old, 5 yrs old and 4 yrs old)

There are nights where I feel like I hardly got any sleep at all! Like last night, I went to bed at around 10:30pm, I wanted to watch the news before going to bed, even though at the time I couldnt keep my eyes open! LOL And for some reason I was so tired, I slept through the alarm to get the kids up for school! Luckly my husband has monday and tuesday off, so he got up and got them ready, took them to school, and by the time I woke up, it was already 8:45am! I felt so bad! Im always the one to get them up and ready for school! I guess my body was more tired than I thought!
 
THREE boys? How FUN!!!!

Wow ~ a house full of testosterone. Do you at least have a female pet to help balance things out for you? lol... I love boys. They are so different from girls.

One time my step-sons' hampster died. It was their first experience with death. They were crying and crying.. inconsolable. Then all of a sudden the youngest one stopped crying. He stood up and said, "heyyyyyy.... look." He went over and picked up the dead hampster. "He's stiff, like an action figure!"

The oldest one stopped crying then, too, ran over, took the hampster and kind of shook it, and said, "cool! can I play with him first?" Then they asked their dad if they could disect him. Their dad said, "after he gets limp again. we'll put him in the frig till then."

That's when I knew I was in a house full of testosterone-filled aliens. Lovable aliens, but aliens nonetheless. :roflmao:
 
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THREE boys? How FUN!!!!

Wow ~ a house full of testosterone. Do you at least have a female pet to help balance things out for you? lol... I love boys. They are so different from girls.

One time my step-sons' hampster died. It was their first experience with death. They were crying and crying.. inconsolable. Then all of a sudden the youngest one stopped crying. He stood up and said, "heyyyyyy.... look." He went over and picked up the dead hampster. "He's stiff, like an action figure!"

The oldest one stopped crying then, too, ran over, took the hampster and kind of shook it, and said, "cool! can I play with him first?" Then they asked their dad if they could disect him. Their dad said, "after he gets limp again. we'll put him in the frig till then."

That's when I knew I was in a house full of testosterone-filled aliens. Lovable aliens, but aliens nonetheless. :roflmao:

That is so funny! :roflmao: I can see something like that happening with my boys! We did have a small dog, her name was Jasmine, but we called her Jazzy. She was a cocker spaniel. My husband and I got her about a year and a half after we started dating. She was such a precious little one! Here's a picture of her. :)

100_0012.jpg


After we had our second son, at the time I had a newborn and a 10 1/2 month old, I just had my hands so full at the time, I had to put the kids first, and couldnt handle taking care of a dog too. My mom so badly wanted to take her off my hands for me, but she worked and my father worked. We just didnt want her to be left home alone during the day when we knew she needed the attention we couldnt give her. It was so tough going through all those emotions at the time. We found a very happy home for her filled with kids who adored her! They sent us pictures of her with the kids playing with her, it was a very warm feeling knowing she was with a family that could give her the attention she needed. At this time, with three kids, there is no way I could handle a pet. Maybe when they get older and could take on the responsibility of a pet. My oldest is always talking about wanting a little dog. But for now, I give them a stuffed animal! :roflmao: We miss that little girl so much! We found out she passed away last year. :( She lived a good life though. She will always be with us.
 
I know your post is about visitors/sleep overs, but out of curiosity, how long does a VEEG last? A week? Two? Until you seizure?
 
The length of a video EEG depends on the person and the doctor. I've heard of one lasting just two days/one night. Someone in here had one that lasted two weeks (I can't even imagine being stuck in bed for 2 weeks.)

Mine lasted 5 days. Most last 3-5 days. If someone has multiple seizures right away, it hurries things along and they go home sooner. Another thing that affects the length of stay is if they are taken off their seizure meds. If they are, it may take a couple of days to work back up on the same or a new drug before they let you go home.
 
I was informed on Tuesday that my insurance approved for a 4 day stay, and if I need to be there longer, they will fill out forms for the insurance to approve them on a daily bases as long as Im still there.

As for taking me off my medications, she said to take all my medications as I am doing now. The first day I will still be on my meds. They will sleep deprive me Monday night, my first night there, and then if that doesnt bring a seizure on, they will do other things, like the strobe lights and such. If needed, by tuesday night or wednesday, they will cut my medication in half and see if that does anything for me. She didnt get any farther than that with me. She was just giving me ths basics of all of it. So I will stay at least 4 days, longer if I dont have any "good" seizures during that four day time period.
 
My problem is I don't seizure very often...anywhere from 9 days to as long as 37 days (or longer) between seizures...which is why I'm reluctant to do the video EEG at all. I could be there 2 weeks and still be unable to 'prove' my seizures.

I'm actually getting frustrated that they're making me 'prove' my seizures anyway. My neighbor witnessed my complex partial seizure while driving (it's a complex partial to the 't'), ambulance personnel witnessed a second, and I'm able to confirm that these episodes, seizures, whatever they'd like to call them...happened many times before. Why isn't that enough to put me on seizure meds already so that we can at least begin the countdown to getting my driver's license back? Do they make grand mal-ers 'prove' their seizures, too? If so, that's crazy.
 
My problem is I don't seizure very often...anywhere from 9 days to as long as 37 days (or longer) between seizures...which is why I'm reluctant to do the video EEG at all. I could be there 2 weeks and still be unable to 'prove' my seizures.

I'm actually getting frustrated that they're making me 'prove' my seizures anyway. My neighbor witnessed my complex partial seizure while driving (it's a complex partial to the 't'), ambulance personnel witnessed a second, and I'm able to confirm that these episodes, seizures, whatever they'd like to call them...happened many times before. Why isn't that enough to put me on seizure meds already so that we can at least begin the countdown to getting my driver's license back? Do they make grand mal-ers 'prove' their seizures, too? If so, that's crazy.

My seizures are pretty much under control with my medications Im taking. My last being in October 2010 when my previous dr tried to increase my medication to its max, and I had some break through seizures with some bad side effects. It was after then, that I got to see his partner and scheduled me for the VEEG. I have complex partial seizures in my left temporal lobe. Its been a long time since I've had a big seizure. My mom said last time I had a big one, I was out all night with a gf of mine, and went home to shower, and she found me that morning on my bedroom floor having a siezure. I got no sleep that night of course, so she thinks if I get sleep deprived I shouldnt have a problem having a seizure. I told her we will have to wait and see what happens. If you do consider having a VEEG done, they will do as much as they can to get you to have a seizure. Some drs even start taking you off your medication(s) before you are admited for the VEEG, just to help get a seizure to happen.
 
I'm actually getting frustrated that they're making me 'prove' my seizures anyway. My neighbor witnessed my complex partial seizure while driving (it's a complex partial to the 't'), ambulance personnel witnessed a second, and I'm able to confirm that these episodes, seizures, whatever they'd like to call them...happened many times before. Why isn't that enough to put me on seizure meds already so that we can at least begin the countdown to getting my driver's license back? Do they make grand mal-ers 'prove' their seizures, too? If so, that's crazy.

Elizzza - They aren't necessarily making you prove your seizures. They may be trying to properly diagnose them. If your symptoms could be more than one thing, you may be having one kind of seizure, or many different kinds. It makes a difference in what kind of medication they give you. A video eeg can help identify the difference between a complex partial and an absence seizure, for example, or a simple motor seizure and a clonic seizure. They get it on both video and the eeg so the doctor can make a good diagnosis.

This is important to know because some medications cover both partial and generalized seizures, like Depakote and Topamax, but many drugs do not. The type of seizures you are having helps the docs prescribe just the right medications for your particular situation.

And if your eeg turns up normal, that doesn't mean you aren't having seizures. At least 40% of the time partial seizures are diagnosed based on case history/symptoms alone.

I know it's frustrating when the docs put us through all these tests. I fought them, too. Still do now and then. But they really do need them to do a good job for us.

Remind me I said this at my next appointment when my neuro says I need another lumbar puncture and I say, "No way!" ;)
 
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