Readers who have been around for a while may remember that about four years ago Lydia was diagnosed with childhood absence epilepsy.  It turned out to be one of those things that sound much worse than they are, and all it really amounted to was that she had to swallow a pill when she woke up and a pill before she went to bed.  After a couple years of that routine, her doctor decided it was time to taper off the medication and see how things went.

That was the summer of 2005, and it all went rather well.  She felt good and there were no more absence episodes and we figured that was that.  A couple of weeks ago, however, I noticed that she was having the same old “space-outs,” and she started talking about “losing” herself when it happened.  So, back to the children’s clinic we went and now we’re waiting for an EEG to be scheduled.  All signs point to this being a relapse of her epilepsy, and when the tests bear that out she’ll start back on the medication.

Again, this all sounds like a bigger deal than it is, but Lydia’s reached an age now that it’s a Very Big Deal to her.  She’s very sensitive to the slightest deviation from what she and her peers perceive as “normal,” and to hear her tell it she might as well have a scarlet “E” emblazoned across her shirtfront.  I know I probably sound a little callous, but I really don’t mean to.  I truly feel for her.  Adolescence is rough enough even without your brain throwing up extra stumbling blocks.