Sleep Study

Funny

Crazy

Tenderhearted

Silly

FAS-like

Absent minded

Appreciative

Timid

Single minded

All these things describe Gabriel, but none of them explain him. 

He has a 2yr old mentality. A 15min attention span. A 3yr old vocabulary. And a 18mo old grasp of following directions.  Once a week he wakes up in a mess.  He has holes in his mouth where he has bitten through, and his eyes don't track.  He makes 1-2 goals every 6mo, WHICH IS PROGRESS!! 

For the last 4yrs we have been trying to get him a diagnosis.  The specialty clinics all have waiting lists of 6-18months.  So, needless to say, we had all our hopes pinned on this study.  

(spoiler alert) It doesn't end with a diagnosis and confetti! ;-) 

                                     The rest of my Frappe was literally the highlight of his morning. 

                                     I promised him, just before he went to sleep that I would save some

                                     for him, and it was the first thing he said when he woke up. :-D 

                                                        

                                            They didn't have a room ready for us upstairs after the CT scan,

                                            so we waited downstairs in the main lobby, for 2hrs. 

                                            Whew! 

                                                        

                                          Once we got upstairs to our room, the real fun started! 

                                          It took this sweet nurse over an hour to place each little

                                          electrode and then blow dry the glue, the smell... 

                                          YUCK, and pass the Advil! 

                                     The "magic straw" in his hand was a topic of lively discussion. 

                                     Mostly "I hate this. And, "Can we take it out?" 

                                   I went to the dollar store on the way to the hospital and loaded up
                                   on coloring books, silly putty, books to read, and dinosaurs.

                                   Guess which was the only thing he was interested in. ;-) 

              

48hrs in this little room, with the magic straw, and helmet of glue, and on the last morning the Dr came in to talk to David.  (He came up and switched out after the first day.) 

The results of the scan were un-impressive, and the sleep study showed nothing exciting. 

Our Dr said, "While it's obvious that there is something going on neurologically with Gabe, the technology just simply doesn't exist yet for us to see what it is, or how to treat it." 

The good news?  

Gabriel still talks about the hospital as the best time of his life.  He got mom's special coffee.  He had his OWN pizza and choc cake.  And he got to play x-box, right from his bed!