DS has to have a 48-72 hour EEG. We're going to try to do it at home. It involves driving about an hour and a half down to the main campus of the local Children's Hospital and having them set it up. Then he will have all the electrodes on for 48-72 hours with the equipment in a little backpack that he will have to wear the whole time.
Is anyone
else wondering how this could possibly work? If he takes off
any of the electrodes we're screwed since we can't put the back on
ourselves. If we can't get it done at home he will have to go into the
hospital for 3 days to do it so I really, really want to avoid that. Any tips? I feel like this is a hopeless endeavor.
Re: Anyone do an at home EEG?
I don't know but I'm all over this post. P had a normal EEG and they wanted to do a 24 hour (I believe) but the hookup place is 2 1/2 hours away in horrribblee traffic. Plus, we had to wrap her up in a sheet and tape it like a baby straight jacket for the last hook up..so I don't have high hopes for this one!
We've had to do a couple 24 hour EEGs that we opted to do in the hospital because we also have a 1.5 hour drive to our Children's Hospital and because it was only 24 hours, it wasn't worth the travel. For a 72 hour one, I would totally try to do it at home!
They set DS up with the little pack, but the crazy people strapped it to his chest - a mobile 15 month old with all those wires hanging in front of him.....bad idea! Ask them to make sure they attach the pack to his back! I would just try and go about your days as normal as you can! He'll probably forget about all the "stuff" by the time you even get home!
Good luck! Once your experience is over, post some tips if you don't mind!
My daughter had to do a 72 hour EEG at home. It was really tough! The girl who attached them did not wrap the gauze very well around her head and she had that off on the ride home. I kept trying to rewrap it, but it never really worked, so I gave up. By the second day some of the leads had come off. It was very stressful at night because I was so afraid of her getting the wires around her neck, she moves a lot. She has been inpatient for an EEG before also and as much as I hated her being in the hospital I think I would chose that. At least in the hospital they can reattach the leads if they need to.
I did not have her wear the backpack because it was too much stuff for her to be tangled in. She was not walking at that point, so it was a little easier for me. I just carried her most of the time and I wore the backpack. I would take her out for walks in her stroller a lot trying to keep her mostly immobile. I played a lot with her in her highchair and just attached the bag to the back of the chair so she couldn't get at it. We also went for rides in the car and I kept the bag out of her reach. Just try to keep him busy.
Good luck!