...First Do No Harm Page #3

I think the best way to understand

what a seizure is...

...is to think of it as

a short-circuit in Robbie's brain.

Something interferes

with the normal electrical flow...

...and everything goes

temporarily haywire.

Oh, oh, oh. It's okay. It's okay.

Look at you so brave.

Now, Robbie's going

to need a CATscan...

...so we can see if his seizures have

a cause that we can treat surgically.

We'll inject a dye

while his head is being X-rayed...

...and then a computer

takes a picture...

...just as if we'd cut

a slice of the brain.

The EEG is used for comparison if

Robbie's seizures change in character.

It's helpful in diagnosing

some special forms of epilepsy.

We do these tests to find out if your

son has a tumor or lesion in his brain.

- A spinal tap is used to rule out bacterial

meningitis. - Hold him just like that.

If we catch it early, it can easily

be treated with antibiotics.

Usually we don't find anything.

We don't necessarily

need to find a cause.

Most of the time we don't.

But we do have effective drugs.

As a matter of fact, 70 percent

of kids with epilepsy...

...have their seizures reasonably

controlled with the first medicine.

We'll start Robbie

with phenobarbital.

It's been around the longest,

so we know the most about it.

Although it can cause

behavioral problems...

...and is associated with withdrawal

symptoms and lowered I.Q...

...most kids on phenobarbital

do just fine.

- It's boring! - "And the emperor... "

Oh, Robbie, come on.

I don't wanna read!

It's boring. I hate it.

- I know. All right. You just...

- I hate it!

- I wanna ride my bike!

- You can't ride your bike, honey.

I told you that. Because we don't

want you to fall down and hit your head.

I wanna go ride Schwartz!

- You can't ride Schwartz. I told you,

sweetie. - I wanna go pet him!

- Anybody home!

- Let's go see who this is.

Come on.

Maybe it's the emperor.

- Hey!

- It's just Margeen.

Well, nice to see you too, Robbie.

You can go play upstairs

in your room quietly, but no jumping.

You hear me?

I ran into

Doc Peterson today.

He wanted to know if Robbie's okay after

the fall he took at school.

I told him I wouldn't know

since I hadn't seen you in a dog's age.

Where have you been?

Home, with Robbie.

What's the matter with him?

Well, they're not sure.

Probably just a virus.

He's on medication, but it's...

he's having a reaction to it.

- Coffee?

- Sure.

What kind of reaction?

Well... he won't eat,

can't sleep...

...and he thinks that he can leap

tall furniture in a single bound.

What kind of medicine is he on?

What!

Our insurance company's

computer...

...is unable to handle the fact

that Dave has transferred union locals.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes