What in the Heck is Banzel Doing, Anyway?

Levi has been on Banzel for three weeks now.  We reached the goal dose of one pill twice a day on Monday.  I don't know what to say about it.  Has it helped?  I don't know.  His partial (ticking) seizures are three to four times what they were when they first started, but I think Sabril is to blame for that.  In fact, the two types of seizures are about equal now.  He has anywhere from 20 to 40 a day of partial and infantile spasms each.  He did begin having longer, harder partial seizures, so we started him on clonazepam in the evening again, and that really helped.  The doctor said we could begin decreasing Banzel because it can cause an increase in some seizures, but we decided to wait a while and see what happens.  We are still holding Keppra at 1.5 mls twice a day for now.

As far as therapy goes, Levi is doing well.  He is really trying to hold his head up.  When he sleeps on his tummy he props his legs up on his knees in perfect crawling format, which is also perfect for weight bearing on his hips.  Too cute, and great for his hip development!  He is kicking his legs more and exploring with his feet, which is adorable, but he still doesn't do a lot with his arms and hands.  They are pretty tight, so we are doing exercises to loosen them, working on weight bearing on his hands, and soon he will have hand splints to keep his hands open while weight bearing.  He won't have to wear them all the time, though, thank God!  We are sick of restrictive devices!

Levi still needs lots of prayer.  If you could please pray specifically, as always, for a STOP to his seizures before they cause him any more damage we would greatly appreciate it.  Also, please pray for head control and more arm movement.  He is trying so very hard, and we can tell it's just so difficult for him!  I still believe it is because of the sedating effect of all the meds he's on, but regardless, he needs to be able to hold his head up so he can sit up, crawl, walk, run, skip, and play like all the other little boys and girls!  Thank you so much for your prayer!  We are lifting you up as well!