Pop quiz

Guest writer: Allison Ciraulo

In case the Ogler wasn't really serious about this principle of "contingency" (see previous post), his brain decided to throw him a little pop quiz on Thursday night. Around 6pm Peter had a seizure while sitting in his recliner watching the evening news. Thankfully, Ellen, Allie, and Jon were all in the house and able to make a 911 call as soon as it became clear what was happening. The paramedics arrived quickly and injected Peter with a sedative drug to stop the seizure, and he was taken to the ER at the local hospital. Within an hour or so after the whole episode began he had come to in the ER and has been stable since.

A CT scan taken in the ER showed a tiny sliver of slightly denser tissue inside of the cavity where Peter's brain tumor was removed last August, which didn't offer a very satisfying explanation for the seizure. Most of yesterday was spent waiting for an MRI to get a more precise look at the spot. The results of that scan didn't reveal anything alarming enough to require that Peter stick around, so he was discharged yesterday evening. We're still waiting to hear a more detailed response from Peter's neurosurgeon and oncologist to see what they can make of the scan, since the doctors at Good Sam didn't have much insight to offer. The sliver of tissue in question may be nothing more than scar tissue from the surgery in August, or it's possible that it may be the beginnings of a new tumor. These are obviously two very disparate options, but apparently either one could be responsible for having caused the seizure.

Given the positive results of Peter's scans three weeks ago, the event of a seizure was obviously unexpected and leaves us confounded. We're hoping that we'll be able to make more sense of things once we hear from the docs in Portland early next week. However, we do know that a seizure is not outside of the spectrum of possible side-effects after surgery or radiation, even this far along in the game.

For the time being, Peter is taking it easy at home. He's not too much worse for wear but is very fatigued and still dealing with some mental fog, a double-whammy of recovering from the trauma and adjusting to the new anti-seizure med (Keppra). He's in fine spirits and is slowly piecing together the story of what's been happening the past few days. Ellen and the family are grateful for your prayers, and for many of you who have called and emailed. Peter's not feeling up for too much sociability yet, but appreciates your support and prayers.