Camp Candlelight

This past Sunday we dropped Arthur off at Camp Candlelight.

The camp is run by the Arizona Epilepsy Foundation.

It is located up in the mountains, about halfway to Flagstaff.

Very beautiful and remote.

The camp is staffed with Nurses and Doctors. Many who

specialize in Neurology and epilepsy.

Plus, many volunteers from the Foundation.

I have to admit it was hard to send him.

He will be gone for an entire week

It helps that he has been seizure free for over a year.

But still......

A parent of an epileptic lives with one eye always watching

and one ear always listening

So to not be on constant alert, is weird.

My husband and I both knew that camp would be so good for him.

To break away from us,

to be with other children just like him.

To just get to go to a sleep away camp!

They get to sleep in air conditioned cabins.

The counselor to camper ration is almost 2:1

They get to go rock climbing, canoeing, swimming, archery practice,

 horse back riding. Just to name a few

How many parents would be terrified to let their epileptic do that stuff???

These kids are amazing and deserve this.

I hope you are having a blast buddy! I miss you more than words can say

xoxo

He finally slept!!!

Arthur had to have another

sleep deprived EEG.

He had been complaining of  the "funny feeling."

We tried playing with his meds but it never

seemed to go away completely.

He has so many of those listed, I'm not sure

if it's all seizure related or not.

So off to PCH we went.

It really is a beautiful hospital, inside and out.

This was our first time here since we

moved to Arizona.

In the past Arthur never seemed to be able to fall asleep during the EEG.

No matter how little sleep he got.

We finally went to a hospital that used their brains!! (no pun intended)

The room had no windows and was nice and dark.

At previous facilities there was always a window with light peaking through the

blinds. No exactly the best when trying to get a kid to sleep during the day.

This time, they made him comfortable and the lights went out.

I had a hard time staying awake! But....

He SLEPT.

Which is the whole point of a sleep deprived EEG.

Something about lack of sleep excites the brain of an epileptic.

They said it would be 3-5 days before the 

neurologist got the results from the tech.

My hats off to the people of Phoenix Children's.

They had an area just for sleep deprived EEG's.

With signs warning people it was a quiet zone.  I was very impressed.