Reagan had another good night last night. We're so sleep deprived most of the time it's hard to remember how many times we actually got up during the night. But last night Mike and I only got up once. Reagan woke crying and I had to pick her up to snap her out of it. She finally fell back to sleep and then just as I was crawling in bed, she woke again. I was so exhausted at that point I pushed Mike out of bed and made him go console her (after all she falls asleep easier for him anyway). I guess it worked because I don't remember waking again, that is not until 6am when the alarm clock went off. We were planning on leaving by 6:15am (it turned out to be closer to 6:30) to get to TX Children's for Reagan's procedure. We were there by 7am but they didn't even begin the procedure til 8:30 (apparently her doctor didn't write down a good enough reason to do the small bowel follow through and they had to get approval). They finally took an x-ray, then made her drink the barium and took pictures as it went down. Then they had me feed her some more of it and we waited for it to move all the way down into the colon, they said we would only have to wait 30min but it ended up being closer to 1hr because all of the rooms were full. They took some more pictures and around 10:30 we were finally headed back home (no word on the results, I'll probably give the doctor a call tomorrow). Reagan did pretty well with all of it. She got a little agitated and fussy (of course she was probably hungry), but she never got out of control like the other kids in nearby rooms screaming bloody murder! She took a little nap on our drive home and then was awake in time for vision therapy at noon. I wouldn't say she was totally alert, I think she was still tired and her head was a little droopy, but she made it through the whole session and was fairly attentive. One thing her therapist noticed is that her arms/hands seem to be more relaxed (her feeding therapist commented on the same thing yesterday). I wonder if it's related to the Clobazam. It would be nice to finally see some good side effects instead of all the negative ones. Of course, less seizures is always a welcome sight. Please keep that in your prayers!
Reagan has been going to sleep much earlier lately, around 9pm instead of 11pm. Usually this would be a bad thing, and she'd wake up sooner rather than later, but last night it worked out just fine. She only woke up once at 1:30am or so and then slept through til 7. It was awesome! I can't remember the last time she woke one time during the night. The sleep must have rejuvenated her because she was a doll all day today. So sweet and talkative, it was a welcome change from yesterday. She took a couple good naps today, but she wasn't groggy like she was yesterday. She only had one therapy today, feeding therapy, and she was great for that too. It's just so strange how she goes back and forth, one horrible day, one great day. Right now I'd settle for just some consecutive so so days. Any stretch of good days usually comes to a screeching halt with those nasty tummy pains. Thankfully today they spared her. And she even had two dirty diapers, but no pain. Another mystery that hopefully we'll get to the bottom of soon. Tomorrow morning is her upper GI with small bowel follow through. She can't have anything to eat or drink after 11:30 tonight. This is checking to make sure that everything is where it should be internally...that nothing is kinked or out of place. If this looks normal, then we'll do the endoscopy/colonoscopy at the end of the month. I would prefer to not have to do that, but we just have to find some answers for her sake. These tummy pains have been making her miserable for way too long. Please keep her in your prayers for a good night's sleep tonight and another good day tomorrow.
Last night was a bad one. I'm certainly not counting on the Clobazam to help with sleeping at this point, not based on our experience last night anyway. Reagan woke up a lot. She was very restless, waking probably every hour or so with the yelling, screaming type of crying. Not fun. I woke up this morning feeling like I had been steamrolled. Not sure if it's the new med or what but Reagan's been in a strange mood all day. Very irritable. Lots of moaning and fussing directly at me. Very hard to tolerate, especially on no sleep. We had plans to go see a few houses today, so my mom came over to watch Reagan. She seemed to do better with Grandma, although she was pretty drowsy all afternoon. She's probably slept a whole night's worth of sleep just in the naps she's taken today. I don't know what that means for tonight, but it can't be good. Please keep her in your prayers. It looks like everything is a go for selling our house. The inspection went well and they only made one costly request, a new hot water heater, which we agreed we'll pay half. Since we only have 2.5 weeks til closing, we're planning on moving in with my mom while we continue to look for the right house. It will be nice when we finally have a one story with Reagan's bedroom right down the hall from us. And I'm excited about being able to have a therapy room for her...with all of her equipment out and easily accessible. I can hardly wait. Now we just have to find the house.
There she is cuddling up to Grandma. She wanted nothing to do with me!
Words to live by. How can you feel weak and discouraged when He is with you? Makes sense, although sometimes it's easier said than done.
I cannot even begin to describe the frustration and disappointment I'm feeling right now. I feel like our whole trip to Detroit was for not. I got an email today from the doctor I formerly respected basically denying everything they told us about the genetic testing they were going to pursue for Reagan. Telling me it costs $6000 per person (which it doesn't, they told us while we were there that it had just been lowered to $3000 per person) and that they don't have the funding to do the testing that's required on the three of us. I don't know why the change of events, maybe they forgot everything they told us, maybe they misspoke, maybe we misheard them (unlikely), maybe they thought we'd forget....I don't know. But right now I feel like every bit of hope I had been given, has been punched right out of me. I'm crushed. Totally crushed. I want to email him back and call him out on the lies he's trying to feed me, but I can't, can I? I'm just miserable about this. Miserable. Maybe Reagan could sense this coming because she's been crying all afternoon. She was in an awesome mood this morning (despite having a lot of seizures). So happy, grinning from ear to ear. Very alert with big smiling eyes (I wish I would have taken a picture). She had feeding therapy and she made it through the whole thing and then she started getting fussy right as we were leaving. By the time we got in the car she was full out screaming, which she continued to do nonstop all afternoon. She did finally have a dirty diaper, which usually helps, but the pain continued. She never really took a real nap. She'd cry herself to sleep but it wouldn't last for long, she'd either wake up as I tried to lay her down or she'd wake up from a seizure, either way screaming. Ugh. That sure makes for a long day. Thankfully my mom agreed to come over and watch her while Mike and I got away for a rare night out together to go to an Astros game. We drove all the way to the ballpark and were about to park our car when we realized, we left the tickets back at home. Just our luck. No really. We have some really rotten luck. We headed back home and decided to just go eat dinner and then head home. Reagan was asleep in Grandma's arms when we got there. Poor girl, she's had a rough day. And it all started out so well. Please keep her in your prayers.
Another rough night last night. I'm not sure how much longer I can take these all nighters. Reagan has been going to sleep earlier than she used to, but we're still going to bed at the same late hour, so maybe we're compounding the problem for ourselves. I sure hope the Clobazam helps with Reagan's sleep woes. Our sleep woes. Although first and foremost, I hope it helps with the seizures. Still no sign of it. I'm hoping we'll get it by tomorrow so we can start it this weekend. Reagan has been in a great mood all day today. A real sweetie. She had three different therapies and was great for all of them. We're still waiting on the results of the inspection on our house, it's really the last thing that could interfere with the sale. Time is ticking away on our 30 day close but we can't start packing until we know it's a done deal. It's a little stressful and God knows we don't need any more stress in our lives. Hopefully everything goes smoothly. Here's to a restful & stress-free weekend.
Doesn't she have the cutest profile?!?!
Sleep is still the same. Not a lot of it. And Reagan had the same bad attitude this morning that she sported all day long on Monday. Luckily today it was only a half a day of it...although it was the half of the day when she was supposed to have two therapies. I say supposed to because she didn't do much except for scream and cry though her OT session this morning. More tummy pains. She finished the therapy session with a stinky diaper and then eventually cried herself to sleep. She woke feeling better but still cranky. She suffered through PT at noon but it wasn't her best work. I found a video today of one of Reagan's previous sessions with her other OT and I was SO impressed at how well she was holding her head up and bearing weight on her arms (while on her tummy and talking up a storm)...it really made me think. How she's not doing that at all right now. And I think it's the Keppra. It's amazing how these drugs, that are supposed to be helping our kids, often times do more harm than good. If it were helping reduce her seizures that would be one thing, but as we found out in Detroit she's still having boat loads of seizures! It's so frustrating that we're constantly changing medications (because nothing has ever worked) and with each medication change (up or down) it affects her...usually negatively. I just want something to work for this girl! I finally spoke with her neurologist today and filled him in on our trip (he's eager to see the actual results and talk to Chugani personally) and he's in agreement with taking Reagan off the Keppra and starting the Clobazam (whenever we get it). So tonight I started the Keppra wean, 1.25ml 3x day. Not nearly as aggressive a wean as I was hoping but for now I'll just go along with it. Who am I to say anything? I did ask him about a potential sleep aid but he wants to wait until we see how she responds to the Clobazam (it can make some kids sleepy). That would be a welcome side effect at night but not necessarily during the day. Lots of wait and see. Seizures have been rough again today so I'm glad we've come up with a game plan. Please keep our little one in your prayers.
Reagan was up a lot again last night, but she has been in a much better mood today so it's made my life a lot easier. I've been playing catch up all day. I was able to schedule her upper GI with small bowel follow through for next Tuesday, bright and early at 7am. She's had one of these before when she was first diagnosed with seizures at 5mo and everything looked OK (although it did show reflux), but with all of the tummy problems she's been having lately her doctor thought it might be a good idea to check it out again. It will look at the basic architecture of the stomach/intestines just to make sure everything looks structurally sound. Over time things can change, so this is something we need to rule out (again). I still need to schedule Reagan's cataract surgery, but I haven't been able to get through to the surgery scheduler today. I'll try again tomorrow. I'm also trying to get the seating company we bought Reagan's Squiggles chair from to bring out some special needs strollers for us to try. The Squiggles chair is perfect to use around the house for therapies, but it's just too bulky (and doesn't have a sunshade) to use when we're out and about. I'm leaning toward something very simple and light, like an umbrella stroller. The two I really want to see are the Special Tomato Buggy Stroller (with liners) and the Maclaren Major. What's irritating is that we already have funding for this equipment but we've been waiting over 2 months now for them to get us a demo. I want to see it first to make sure it's actually going to work for Reagan. She is so difficult to manage now with her always wanting to go into extension (making her stiff as a board), it's almost impossible to hold her and she extends herself all the way out of our regular stroller. Hopefully we'll find something that is light enough for me and supportive enough for her so we can get out and do more. Right now we're pretty much hermits, never leaving the house except for doctors and therapy appts. Seizures seemed a little improved from yesterday, but then she woke from an afternoon nap and had a bunch that really knocked her for a loop. Poor thing. Still no word from her neurologist. So frustrating, it seems we can never get a hold of this guy lately! I'm hoping we'll get the Clobazam in this week so we can start it before the weekend. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.
I'm finally there. Completely and totally exhausted. Maybe it's the fact that we're getting NO sleep at night because Reagan's waking up at least once an hour. Maybe it's the nonstop seizures she's having all day long. Maybe it's her super irritable behavior last night and all day today. Maybe it's the fact that I don't have enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to be done...running to and from therapies, scheduling of doctors appts and procedures, leaving messages for doctors (that I never hear back from), trying to get all of Reagan's medicine (and food) in her. Exhausting. Reagan has been such a handful today. She was fussy for OT this morning but she was full out hysterical for feeding therapy shortly thereafter. She was up last night with tummy pains which have continued to plague her all day. I did finally get a call from the GI nurse today and they scheduled Reagan's endoscopy-colonoscopy for July 28th. Not exactly as quickly as I was hoping. I just want to figure out what's causing her so much pain. No child should have to suffer this much. Seizures have been particularly rough today. Everyone is noticing an increase. Her feeding therapist brought it up and so did my mom. I, of course, already know this because I hold her all day long and feel each and every one of these nasty things wrack her little body nonstop. She definitely needs some prayers...that tomorrow will bring a better day.
Reagan woke up a few times last night, and one time she needed her Daddy to get back to sleep. It just amazes me sometimes how she'll cry and fuss nonstop with me and then I hand her off to Mike and she just snuggles up and goes to sleep. Such a little turkey...this girl loves her Daddy! I wish I could say he had a super Happy Father's Day but after getting back from an afternoon of golf, he was hit with the symptoms of heat exhaustion. This hot, humid weather is brutal. Poor thing. He didn't even get to enjoy his Father's Day ribeye (so you know he was feeling lousy)! Before he left for golf, we did stop by a couple open houses. They were both pretty nice, but I don't think either were the house for us. I know we have a short amount of time to look, but this time we want to make sure we get everything we want and need this time around. Tomorrow the people that have an option our house are doing their inspection and we're hoping that everything goes smoothly. We've lowered our price so much over the last 7 months we're not really going to make anything on the sale of our house, so we're already at our bottom price. Frustrating, but it's time for us to move on. Speaking of moving on, I'm calling the neurologist to talk with him about our recent findings in Detroit and to see what he thinks about the effectiveness of the Keppra. If all of those twitches she's having are really seizures (like the VEEG indicated), then she's really having upwards of 1000 seizures a day. Scary. We're still planning on adding the Clobazam per Dr. Chugani's recommendation but we probably won't get it until Friday at the earliest. We definitely need to make some changes. Something just has to work for this little one! Please keep her in your prayers.
Last night we gave the melatonin another try (only this time 6mg). Reagan went to sleep early but then woke up again long enough for me to give her a dose. I'm not sure if it helped or not. It certainly wasn't a full night's sleep but she did go to sleep fairly quickly after getting the dose and then she slept about 4hrs or so. I wanted to try it again tonight but she fell asleep before I could give it to her. Hopefully she'll sleep without it. She's been quite the handful today. Very fussy and whiny most of the day. Then this afternoon we couldn't take it anymore so I gave her a suppository and that helped clean her out and afterward she seemed much improved. I think we're going to go ahead and schedule the endoscopy and colonoscopy for her. Things are still not right with her tummy even with the switch to soy, we need to get a look in there and make sure everything is OK. I hate the idea of more procedures, but we just have to get to the bottom of what is causing her so much pain. There are a lot of unknowns right now, hopefully we'll get some answers in the near future. Please continue to keep her in your prayers!
Last night was a fairly good night for sleep. I don't think I mentioned it, but we did discuss Reagan's sleep (or lack thereof) with Dr. Chugani during our visit. He suggested trying the high 6mg dose of melatonin. He said that sleep issues are very common in kids with infantile spasms because they are unable to get into a regular sleep pattern (makes sense if they are having episodes of hypsarrhythmia at night like Reagan). He said that if the melatonin doesn't work then we may want to try clonidine at night (something our local neurologist already mentioned). So we'll see. We hate adding anything else to Reagan's already full medication schedule, but if it will help her sleep, it would be beneficial to us all. Today we slowly got back into the swing of things. Reagan only had one therapy, feeding therapy, and she was very cooperative allowing her therapist to do all sorts of stretches without so much as a peep. She also ate a little applesauce and took a few pretty good bites. It's all a matter of timing with her. You have to be patient but if you get it in there at just the right time, she'll take it off the spoon and swallow it down no problem. Seizures have been a little rough today. I'm ready to try something new. I'm a little unsure of the effectiveness of the Keppra. Initially we thought we were seeing improvement because although she was having more "twitches", she was having less of the typical spasms. Now that we know the twitches are seizures too, I'm not sure how much the Keppra is helping, if at all. I spoke with the Canadian pharmacy today and they shipped our order of Clobazam. It will probably take a week or so to get it, but we can start it as soon as it gets here. As far as Canadian drugs go, it's relatively affordable (especially when compared to Vigabatrin) which is good since insurance doesn't cover it. Reagan had a scary episode tonight and I'm still not sure whether it was seizure related or just a long breath holding episode. Mike was holding her while I took a shower and when I got out I could hear her crying and then nothing. All of a sudden I heard him yelling her name over and over again, I ran into the room and there she was stiff as a board, totally purple and not breathing. Finally she came out of it, but I could tell Mike was visibly shaken. It's scary. We have no idea what brought it on. Maybe tummy pains? Maybe a seizure? Who knows. This girl, always keeping us on our toes. Hopefully we won't see another one of those for a while. Here's to an uneventful weekend at home.
So much for the drowsiness, it passed rather quickly and Reagan woke up quite a few times fussing last night. Thank goodness we got that nap or we would have been exhausted today. I have to say overall I was less than impressed with Children's Hospital of Michigan. I had heard wonderful reports from other parents of people going above and beyond...maybe my expectations were just too high...but I was not impressed, that is not until today. Today we had our appt with Dr. Chugani. First we met with another doctor and he got a detailed history from us (which he then recited by memory to Chugani- very impressive) and told us the results of the VEEG and PET scan. Nothing hugely surprising. The PET and the EEG showed very generalized seizure activity all over the brain...no chance of surgery. The PET showed a hypometabolism of glucose (her brain was not metabolizing it well at all) in all areas except her visual cortex and a portion of her motor cortex. The EEG did show intermittent hypsarrthymia (more so during sleep) as well as an overall slow background. One interesting find is that the "twitches" she's been having, the ones that she has a lot of but we weren't that worried about because we didn't really think were epileptic, yeah they are. So she's having WAY more seizures than we thought. Not good. So at this point we're a little disheartened. Then Chugani comes in. He immediately started putting things together. The stiffness in her arms and legs, something we've been calling spasticity, he thinks is actually dystonia. Then the fact that she had cataracts. And of course Infantile Spasms. He thinks it's all genetically linked (which is nothing new, we've heard this all before) but the catch...he is very insistent on finding out what it is! For the sake of us, so we know whether or not we should have any more children, he wants the tests done and he wants them done now! He even brought in the geneticist and all three doctors had a quick brainstorming session right there in front of us. It was interesting to watch. They decided to take a sample of blood from us all to run tons of genetic testing...all very expensive but free of charge because they will be doing it as part of their genetic study on infantile spasms. Very neat. He also thinks she needs to try another seizure medication, Clobazam. This is one that was recommended to us by our neurologist but we were afraid to try it because it is from the same family as Klonopin. Apparently it doesn't have any of the nasty side effects of Klonopin and he thinks it might work better for Reagan (and also help a little with the dystonia). We're going to add it on top of the Topomax and the Keppra. It's another one of those drugs only available in Canada, so now we begin the process of trying to get it in our hands in the US. So that's it. We have a plan of action. A new medication to try and lots of genetic tests to run. It's all in their hands now. And they are very capable hands. All in all I would say the trip was a success and we're glad we did it. The flight home went surprisingly well too. Reagan was great. The only mishap was that she had a super smelly dirty diaper halfway into our flight and we had to change her right there on the seat! No changing tables! At least we were at the very back of the plane...but it was quite gross. AND when we got home we had an offer on our house! We made a counter offer and they accepted! We've gone almost 7 months with no offer and POW it's done. It's almost more stressful now that we know we have to move. Please say some prayers for us on this. We are quite stressed about it, we have a 30 day close and no leads on a new house. Thank you for all the prayers during our trip but please keep them coming as Dr. Chugani continues to research Reagan's history and genes to try to uncover the root of her problems, as Reagan starts yet another new medication, and as we try to find a new house that fits us.
Mike took the first "shift" last night from 11-3. I had a hard time falling asleep, thinking someone was going to come in and make me get out of the bed next door. I finally fell asleep sometime after midnight. Of course, Reagan slept the entire time (during Daddy's shift). Then I got up at 3am and she woke maybe 5 min later. I was able to get her to drink some of her bottle though, which was good because she had to stop all food/formula at 8am. She had quite a few seizures during her time up and finally fell back to sleep around 4:15am. She woke again around 6:30am (Reagan's best night of sleep in a long time) when the nurses started coming in to prepare us for discharge. Prepare us for discharge? Wasn't this supposed to be a 24hr EEG?? Apparently that's not a literal term. I guess if you have a child that has very few seizures then they might keep you longer but since Reagan had more than enough (she had a good day yesterday with just a few here and there but this morning she more than made up for that) they were ready to get rid of us. And the fact that they had the room booked up probably played the biggest role in them kicking us out at 8am. The only problem...Reagan had to keep the EEG leads on her head for the PET scan (which wasn't scheduled until 1:30pm), so we couldn't just leave the hospital. We were stuck. Apparently they usually schedule the PET scans in the morning but for some strange reason they mucked this up (just our luck). Thankfully, the people in the the PET department were the nicest we dealt with during our stay and they gave us a room with a tv to just hang out in for the next 5.5hrs. About an hour before the procedure they started an iv and Reagan was not too happy about that. Then finally at 1:30 the EEG technician performed a 30min EEG and when he was finished he proceeded to rip the EEG leads off her head...lets just say she was not at all happy about that. Then they moved her to the PET scan and gave her some iv sedative. She responded really well, she just started drifting off and they only had to give her the one dose. The scan itself only took another 20min or so and then they came to get us and we cleaned her up and washed her hair while she was still out cold. They told us she would probably be groggy for a while so we high tailed it over to the hotel to take a nap! We went ahead and got a room at a real hotel, the Greektown Hotel and Casino, only a couple miles away from the hospital. We walked in and it was love at first sight. Big fluffy comforters on the bed, everything nice and new, it was heaven. We all took a good 3hr nap and then we woke Reagan up so I could feed her. She drank a big bottle very quickly and woke up in a great mood. She's still a little groggy but very sweet and happy. I love that sedative! Could we get some to go? Now we're just hanging out in our room. We got some Greek takeout and it was delicious! Apparently this is a highly populated Greek part of town (hence the name Greektown) so the food was authentic Greek and oh so good. Mike is dying to go to the casino but I'm hoping to talk him out of it. Nothing good could come out of that! So tomorrow is our big day with Dr. Chugani. We'll get the results of all the testing and his expert opinion on Reagan's situation. Please keep this in your prayers as well as a safe and problem-free flight home.
I wish I could say everything went as smoothly today as it did yesterday. None of us slept more than a wink last night. It was hot and uncomfortable and Reagan kept us up all night. We checked out of our room and headed over to the hospital shortly after 9. In the few short seconds we were outside...boy was it nice. So cool and comfortable, a polar opposite to Houston's hot, humid weather right now. We first went to admitting, which didn't take too terribly long and then they escorted us up to the EEG dept. We waited there for quite a while and when Reagan was already getting a little antsy by the time we were called back. They wrapped her up like a mummy and she HATED it! Cried and cried. I had to take a picture because she looked so cute and so pathetic at the same time. It seemed to take forever (they do go through the trouble of braiding her hair to keep it from getting too gunked up) and finally Reagan wore herself out with the crying and fell asleep at the very end. Then we were taken up to our room for the video EEG...which was already occupied by another family. To clarify, there are two rooms with a half wall in between them that leads to a shared bathroom. Some privacy, but not nearly enough for our super sensitive princess. Luckily they cleared out in the afternoon and now we're in here alone. Reagan has been fairly irritable today...which is double tough when you can't really move around at all with her. I think it's a combination of all the junk on her head and not taking a decent nap all day. Every time she falls asleep on us and we try to make the switch to the crib, she wakes up crying. She's so tired, you can just tell, those eyes have had a hard time staying open. We're tired too. I really don't know how we're going to do it tonight. They say that one of us has to stay awake 24/7, but we are both so sleep deprived I don't know how we'll manage that. I guess we'll probably try to take shifts, with one of us sleeping on the empty bed next door (they didn't say we could do that but we're hoping they'll let us) and the other in with Reagan drinking coffee. It's going to be a long one (but aren't they all)! Seizures have been fairly mild today...it's been 9hrs and we still have the same log sheet (although we only have 2 spaces left). I'm interested in seeing what they have to say about the results of the EEG on Thursday. The highlight of our day today was when we ordered pizza tonight! It was a place recommended by Meghan after all the time she spent here with Jackson in the hospital and it was awesome! My first taste of Chicago style deep dish pizza and it was so yummy but so rich. I'm stuffed. It's been a stressful day and it's only going to get worse tonight and tomorrow. She has the PET scan tomorrow which requires sedation, which is always a little worrisome. Not to mention the fact that she can't have anything to eat after 8am. It's not like she typically gets "hungry" but her bottle is what we use to soothe her when she gets fussy. Should be an interesting day tomorrow. Please continue to keep her in your prayers!
We're here! Everything went surprisingly well. Reagan was a dream on the 3hr plane ride. We did have a few issues trying to get her carseat installed (since she's over 2 and can't sit on her own we had to put her in her carseat for takeoff and landing), but we eventually figured it out. Reagan has been super talkative today. She was pretty quiet on the plane but started up again right before we got off. What's funny is that as we were exiting the plane several flight attendants commented on how sleepy she was (even though she was wide awake and babbling away on my shoulder). They just couldn't get over how "out of it" she was! We just had to laugh about it…but I wonder how many parents would have been put off by that. At what point do you educate people and tell them that your child is not sleepy or out of it but she's disabled and visually impaired? I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Let me tell you, it's not easy lugging around this child, her carseat, and our luggage. Thank God we bought one of those go go kidz pull carts, it attaches to the carseat and you can pull it through the airport with ease. It did take a little extra time to attach it and unattach it, but it was a life saver. After getting our luggage, we headed off to get our rental car. It took forever but we finally got a car and made our way toward the hospital. We stopped on the way and ate an early dinner and then checked into the International Guest House. You know the saying; you get what you pay for? Well that about sums it up. The A/C is broken, the refrigerator wasn't working (turns out it was just off), the pillows are the super thin, plastic kind and the hallways smell like smoke (even though it's nonsmoking). All I can say is yuck. I don't know if we'll be staying here another night. Tomorrow night we'll be in the hospital, so I'm thinking maybe we check into a real hotel on Wed our last night here. I was all for saving some money by staying here, but an A/C is something I cannot live without. We're all super tired, so I'm just hoping it will cool down a little so we can get some sleep before heading over to the hospital tomorrow. Thanks for checking in on us and please keep the prayers coming!
Monday June 15th- we leave Houston on Continental at 10:20am (our first flight ever with Reagan) and get to Detroit by 2:23pm. We got 2 out of 3 tickets free through Continental Careforce. They help children get the medical treatment they need by providing free flights for the child and one parent (once a year). It was a huge help in making this trip happen. I decided to go ahead and get a rental car because the taxi cab fares are so steep we'd only have to spend a little more to get our own car for 3 days. We're staying at the International Guest House next door to the hospital. It's similar to the Ronald McDonald House in that it offers reduced rates for families of kids receiving treatment, but it's a little nicer and you're able to make reservations in advance.
Tuesday June 16th- we check in for Reagan's 24hr video EEG at 9:30am. That is an overnight test. They hook her up to all the leads and then monitor seizure activity for a full 24hrs. We have to press a button each time she has a seizure...that's going to get old quick. She's probably going to get irritated of having to lay in the hospital bed 24hrs with junk stuck to her head and our patience may get tested a little. I'm just hoping that maybe we'll see some sort of improvement in her EEG...she hasn't had one since October. It sure would be nice to see less or even better NO hypsarrhythmia!!!!
Wednesday June 17th- after she finishes with the EEG, they will leave the leads on her head and we'll go straight over to have her PET scan done at 1:30pm. She's never had a PET scan before...this is the real specialty of the doctor we're seeing in Detroit. They will sedate her and put some sort of radioactive dye into her and then monitor how her brain metabolizes it. This may give them some sort of insight as to what is at the root of all of her problems (we're hoping). It may also see more clearly if there is in fact a seizure focus in her brain that could potentially be removed by surgery.
Thursday June 18th- 10am we meet with Dr. Chugani for the results. This is going to be the most nerve wracking part of the trip. We're hoping and praying that he'll have some good news for us. Then we leave Detroit on Continental at 3:08pm and get back in Houston at 5:07pm.
I also plan on updating the blog while we are there, so that will be a good way to find out how things are going and the most urgent prayer requests. Thank you all for your support!
Reagan went to bed early last night around 9pm, I had just enough time to get all of her medicine in her but not enough time to give the high dose melatonin a try. Maybe tonight. She went all day without taking a nap, just a 5min siesta here and there. We went to church tonight and she was very well behaved. She had actually just fallen asleep right before we picked her up (and woke up as soon as we put her in her carseat). The woman that watches her at church commented on how few seizures she had. Now that I think about it, I guess this was the first time we've been since she started Keppra. That's definitely a good thing when other people notice a difference. It's hard for me because I'm still seeing her have a good amount in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. Baby steps. Still haven't done any real packing but I did make a dent in the laundry, so that's good. I decided to go ahead and get Reagan one of those hand held DVD players after seeing how mesmerized she was during her gastric emptying scan watching those cartoons. I figured maybe it will help to entertain her on the airplane or while we're cooped up in that room during the 24hr EEG. They sent us a packet in the mail that outlined the expectations for the EEG and I'm not sure I'm up for it. First of all, they want a parent awake at all times (including night) to press the button and write down in a log any "events" she's having. I don't mind pressing the button, but I'm not sure I'm going to jot down all 100+ events. They also say that you can't have a personal computer in the room. I figured we'd spend half our time on the internet, so what now? And how am I supposed to do the blog? I may have to sneak away for that. Any way you look at it, it's going to be a stressful trip and I'm sure we won't relax til we're back home in TX sleeping in our own bed. Only one more day til we leave! Please keep us in your prayers!
Today has been a little hectic. We had two showings for our house...to the same people. We're hoping maybe they'll be the ones. Somewhere in between all of that we were able to squeeze in a couple sessions of OT and vision therapy. Reagan has been a little fussy today but managed to do well during both therapies. Sleep is still exactly the same...no need to dwell on it (I've done enough of that already). Since Reagan's switch over to soy I've been a little concerned about her taking in less calories (since I stopped adding flavored syrups to her bottles). She just feels a little more bony lately (especially in her back). So I went ahead and ordered some benecalorie and I figured I would just add some in here and there to her food. I gave her some last night and some this morning...but this afternoon when I was on the phone with the nutritionist from the GI dept, she mentioned that she thought benecalorie had milk in it. Yep, it does (it's only the second ingredient). Great. So much for that. She said that instead we could just try adding a tsp of vegetable oil to her food (40 calories). Doesn't sound very appetizing, but it may be our only option (other than adding back all of those sugary syrups). One piece of good news I got today, I think we are going to be able to get Medicaid to cover the cost of her soy formula. Since it's Reagan's main source of nutrition, they will pay for it. They do not, however, cover anything that is considered supplemental nutrition. Interesting. You really do need to take a class on getting to know the ins and outs of these government assistance programs. No one explains any of it to you and I've found the only way you hear about many of these things is from other parents of special needs kids (who have already been through it). It's amazing how expensive it is raising a child with special needs. It all adds up and it adds up quick. It's a different life, certainly not the life I planned or the life I would chose. But I cannot imagine loving Reagan more and there is nothing we wouldn't do for her. She's our little princess and she's perfect in our eyes (although we would appreciate less seizures and more sleep).
Sleep, well I don't think I even need to mention it. It's pretty much nonexistent at this point. Every night Reagan is up and down nonstop until about 4-5, then that last little stretch she'll get in a solid 1-2hr and then she's usually up by 6:30 or 7am. Same thing every night. We're like walking zombies around here. Last night I did increase the B6 (from 25mg to 50mg) but we didn't see any improvement. I just don't know what is waking her up...is it nightmares, seizures, stomach pains??? I have no clue. I do know yesterday I was holding her and she had been asleep for about 5min or so and out of no where she threw herself into a ball and started screaming. She was screaming but not making a sound, her face was all red and her mouth wide open but nothing was coming out, she held her breath until she turned totally blue and could hold it no longer and then the real screaming started up. But there was no warning, no seizure, no gas, I don't know what it was but whatever it was just hit her all of a sudden and I have a feeling that's what's happening every night, all night long. I spoke to her neurologist today and he wants to see if the increase in B6 helps. If not then we may try an even higher dose of Melatonin (6mg) and if that doesn't work, then we'll just figure it out when we get back from Detroit. Her doctor thinks it's probably all related to taking her off of the Klonopin and he mentioned possibly trying Clonidine or Ativan sometime in the future but now is not the time to be adding new medications (even if it means more sleepless nights for us). Sophie's mom recommended trying Neurotonin, since it was the only thing that helped her sleep, but when I asked our neurologist about it he said he's concerned that it would only aggravate Reagan's myoclonic seizures (since she tends to be sensitive to drugs that have that side effect). So that's that. More wait and see...which is hard to do when you're so sleep deprived. Maybe Dr. Chugani will have a suggestion next week. I hope so. She has been a little congested the last few days. Originally I just thought it was from all the crying she's doing at night, but it doesn't seem to be going away during the day. It sounds more like spit accumulating in the back of her throat than real congestion, but it's hard to tell. Reagan's eye appt went well enough today. Her cataract surgeon said that there is definitely an opacity on that left eye. She can still get a red reflex (which means she can see to the back of the eye), so she's not super concerned about it, but it will have to be removed. She said it will probably get worse, it's just hard to say at what rate. If we have it removed within the next month or two, it should be fine. So she pretty much left it up to us to schedule the surgery when it's good for us. Personally, surgery is never good for me (especially 4 cataract surgeries) but whatever. I just hope and pray that this will be her very last one! Enough already.
Another terrible night last night. Lots of screaming and crying...most of it done by Reagan. She was still in a bad mood this morning, fussing and fighting against me, I was seriously at my breaking point. Sometimes it's just more than you can take (by you, I mean me). The combination of tons of seizures and irritability is difficult to deal with, but when you're going on NO sleep, it's almost impossible! I spoke with the neurology nurse this morning about Reagan's lack of sleep. She said the doctor recommended Melatonin. Thanks, but we've tried that. I'm wondering if the irritability and constant waking up at night is related to the high dose of Keppra and the relatively low dose of B6? I asked her about that and she was going to ask the doctor, but I never heard back. I went ahead and increased it to 50mg tonight to see if maybe that helps. I also increased her morning dose of Keppra, as the doctor recommended. Now we wait to see if anything changes. Please keep her in your prayers. Reagan's been off and on fussy all day today. She was in a good mood for PT, although she refused to keep her head up. It's so crazy how one part of her body can be so floppy, while at the same time her legs and arms are so tight. I'm trying to get her into an aquatic therapy program at Texas Children's. It's a 10week program (that doesn't start til mid Sept, but they are enrolling people now) where she would get PT in the water. I think it would work really well for her because when she takes a bath it's one of the few times she actually relaxes all of those tense muscles. We'll see. I haven't heard back from them yet. I did finally hear back from the GI doctor on the results of the gastric emptying scan. She said that Reagan's emptying is delayed (boy we hear that word a lot) but it's not super slow. It's kind of in that gray area where you don't really know whether or not to treat it. In a healthy person, one half of the stomach contents should empty in 90min, based on what they saw it would take her 117min to get to that point. So what now? We're going to see how she responds to the switch to soy. Meanwhile we're going to schedule an x-ray of the stomach and an endoscopy (which probably wouldn't happen until sometime in July)...if her tummy pains go away on the soy then we'll just cancel those appts, but if not at least we have them scheduled. Tomorrow we have a super busy day, an appt with her cataract surgeon who has been on maternity leave to check the status of the secondary cataract in her left eye and then three different therapies. Should be fun. Thankfully I have some summer help starting tomorrow so I won't be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I decided to hire the niece of a friend, she's a college student and would only be here for the summer, but at least she comes highly recommended and I can spend the next couple months taking my time looking for a long term helper. I just didn't want to rush into anything again.
Brutal. Last night was another horrible night. Reagan would wake screaming every 5-20min. I was up and down the entire night. Tons of twitches, tons of seizures...how could anyone sleep like that!?!? She did manage to get a good hour or two of solid sleep at the end but that's not enough for anyone to get by! After such a rough night, I did go ahead and increase her Topomax back up a little to 4.5pills 2x/day...maybe we'll see a little relief with that. I spoke with someone from the epilepsy clinic today (some new person that knew nothing about Reagan) and they said that her doctor wants to continue increasing the Keppra. If the last increase made things worse, sure, why not increase it again! That makes a lot of sense. So now we're supposed to increase the morning dose to 1.5ml in the am, 1.25ml at noon, and 1.5ml in the pm. We'll see how that works. Lots of prayers needed! Reagan had another session of Feldenkrais this morning and she did really well. Even without sleep, she was in a great mood and very cooperative to everything the practitioner was doing. This afternoon she took a nap and slept straight through vision therapy. I always say that Reagan has the cutest bottom and now there's really no doubt about it! I found the cutest pair of bloomers ever! I fell in love with the picture of Lily and her little sister in matching monogrammed bloomers on Lily's old blog and I decided that I had to find a pair for Reagan. Not only did I find some, but they are just gorgeous! I contacted the lady about making a pair for Reagan and after seeing Reagan's blog she insisted on doing them for us free of charge! SO sweet! You can pick from tons of fonts, colors, and ribbons making each one completely original and adorable! I just love them and can hardly wait to get a picture of Reagan in them!
Still no success with the Melatonin. Reagan was up and down a lot of the night last night. She slept from 7pm-12:30am, but after that she was up at least once an hour. Of course she did have two dirty diapers last night so that might have played some role in all of the waking and fussing. We were trying a higher dose of Melatonin, since the first time we tried it the 1mg pill seemed to have no effect whatsoever. Now we're using a 3mg pill and still not seeing any benefit...if anything she's sleeping worse! I just think if she were going to respond to it, it would have been immediate. I think tonight we're going to skip it. Maybe she needs a higher dose? But 3mg is already pretty high, so I don't know about increasing it further. Maybe I'll call the neurologist tomorrow and ask him about it. I already have to call and ask them what we should do next with the Keppra. Seizures have been frustrating lately for us and for Reagan! Sometimes they'll wake her when she's sleeping and other times they are the reason for her whining/fussing...because she'll calm down as soon as she has one. Ugh. I hate these things! Maybe after all the testing in Detroit, Dr. Chugani will have a better idea as to which medication would be more effective in stopping these nasty seizures. That's what we're praying for anyway. This poor girl has had NO relief! This afternoon she's been a little off. Very groggy and very fussy. She'd fall asleep then wake up 15min later screaming. She's starting out of the sofa tonight. Please keep her in your prayers.
So much for the melatonin. Reagan was up a lot last night and she's been up pretty much the entire day today (I wonder if it can have the opposite effect). We're still going to give it a couple more nights to see if it works, but so far, not so good. Despite the lack of sleep and the huge amount of seizures/twitches she's having, Reagan was in a pretty good mood this morning. That is, until we got to late afternoon without any hint of a nap. She fell asleep right before we left for the Epilepsy benefit at Rajun Cajun and woke up the second we put her in the car. That made for a very fussy little girl. And even though we were inside, she was getting very hot and flushed from of all of the crying. She finally settled down and slept about 15min or so in my arms, but that was it and it wasn't enough. We were there long enough to eat and socialize a little but Reagan was not being very cooperative. It's funny, our neurologist's nurse was there selling the raffle tickets for the Harley Davidson. Maybe Mike will win...he did buy two tickets. I'm glad though, there really seemed to be a good turnout! We were there at 3:30, probably the least busy part of the day, and it was super crowded and they had already sold nearly all the raffle tickets. It was all for a good cause. Reagan did not go down for a real nap until after 7pm, which I'm sure spells disaster for our sleep tonight. And once she went down, she was OUT! Finally around 9pm we picked her up out of bed and tried to wake her. It didn't happen. So I fed her a bottle and gave her all of her medicine in several spoonfuls of food while she continued to sleep. I changed her diaper and put her to bed around 11pm and other than a few stretches here and there, she really never got close to waking up. I felt kind of bad giving her Melatonin when she was already so out of it, but it's worth another try. It sure would be nice if we could find something that would help her sleep at night again! She really only slept through the night for a few glorious months, and we have wracked our brains to try to figure out what was her winning recipe for sleep. Mike thinks it was the Vigabatrin, I think it was more likely related to the Klonopin, but who knows at this point. We're just grasping at straws, we're so desperate for a good night's sleep right now. Please keep her in your prayers...less seizures and more sleep!
What a horrendous night last night! I didn't realize how dependent Reagan has become on that little sip of koolaid or whatever to get her back to sleep at night. She was miserable without it. Fussing and moaning and groaning and screaming and crying...she was driving me crazy! I felt bad because she was having a TON of seizures and I know that had to be upsetting her, but there was just no snapping her out of it! At this point, I was very worried about how she was going to do for the gastric emptying test. She finally went back to sleep around 4:45am and then slept til 6:30am when my mom came in and woke her up with the alarm. Reagan didn't mind, she was thrilled to see her Grandma first thing in the morning and I was glad to have help. Little turkey, it was hard to believe that she had been such a terror during the night. When we got to the hospital to run the test, the guy tells me that Reagan has to drink 2oz in 5min. I think I actually laughed at the idea! I don't know if Reagan has EVER drank 2oz in 5min. Then he says that she can take up to 10min but that's it, no exceptions. If she can't do it, they'll have to cancel the test. So he leaves and comes back with her bottle full of soy and radioisotopes and it's actually 3oz!! I admit, I had no faith in her being able to drink 3oz in 10min...but we thought we'd try. Well, needless to say, she proved me wrong. She drank the 3oz in about 8.5min. Then he laid her on the table on this foamy board and proceeded to tape both her arms and legs down flat against her sides. First of all, she prefers to keep her arms bent, so I really thought she was going to break free but she tolerated it just fine. She not only tolerated it, but she was awesome! I turned on some cartoons and put the little TV up close to her and she watched those cartoons nonstop for an hour and a half! I could NOT believe it. It was amazing. Not only was she totally content, she was actually watching the TV and following it with her eyes! It was seriously her best behavior to date! She never got antsy, not even once! Then when the test was over, they cut her loose and I was finally able to give her her seizure medication...not that it's helping. I can't believe we've actually seen an increase in seizures (and especially twitches) since that last Keppra increase! It just doesn't make sense! Maybe it's just the fact that we're making changes, who knows. So frustrating! No news on the results of the test today. They said the doctor would read it today but probably not get back to us until Monday. Not surprising. Anyway, I am SO exhausted. My eyes are all bloodshot and sore from being up all night. I'm giving the melatonin another go tonight. We're going to try a higher dose 3mg. Before we tried 1mg and we saw no difference. Maybe this will work? Some sleep would be great! We sure need a nice relaxing weekend. Hopefully we'll get one. We're planning on going to a fund raiser tomorrow benefiting "Kids with Epilepsy" at the Sugar Land Rajun Cajun. It was something I just heard about and decided we had to attend (for obvious reasons). Hopefully Reagan will behave so we can have a good time. Anyone in the area please come! It's from noon-10pm Saturday June 6th.
So much for increased sleepiness from the Keppra increase (at night anyway). Reagan woke up only 2hrs or so after I put her down for the night. And then it was the same old story, up and down the stairs until I finally caved and transferred her to the sofa. So far, no changes noted from the increase (except maybe a little more sleep this afternoon). She woke up this morning very twitchy and having the usual amount of seizures. I did finally talk to the neurology nurse who confirmed that the doctor wanted to increase the Keppra exactly as I had already done. I'm surprised because I thought I was being a little cautious...I really thought he'd want to go up higher. She said for us to watch her over the weekend and that if we were going to see improvement we should probably see it in the next couple of days. Please keep that in your prayers! Reagan seems to be doing well with switch over to soy. Today was her first full day of soy. I wouldn't say she's guzzling it down like she did with that first bottle, but overall she seems to be drinking a little more of it. First thing tomorrow morning we're going in to Texas Children's for a gastric emptying scan. Her GI doctor thinks that she may have slow motility which could be responsible for her lack of hunger. Hopefully it will yield some sort of insight into her extensive tummy issues. The problem is, she can't have anything to eat or drink after 2am in the morning...so if she wakes in the middle of the night (which she does often), she can't have any koolaid to calm down. We're on our own. Should be fun.
Reagan woke in a fairly good mood today. She slept slightly better last night and was very happy and cooperative this morning during OT. She took a bath and seemed happy as can be. I was blow drying her hair when it hit her...the infamous tummy pains. Out of no where, Reagan just started screaming bloody murder! She cried and cried and cried. I did my best to help her "work it out" but I felt a little helpless. Finally she had dirty diaper, screamed lots more, and fell asleep. I admit, I breathed a sigh of relief thinking we were out of the woods. Too bad she woke up in the same foul mood. She was having lots of seizures (and twitches) and still full of gas. When PT arrived she was still very fussy, but Reagan allowed her to bend and stretch her in an attempt to get the gas out! It must have worked because shortly thereafter Reagan was able to relax and fall back asleep. Ugh. I'm so sick of these stomach pains. No child should have to suffer like this. I'm glad I decided to order the soy formula myself because it arrived today and I plan on starting her on it ASAP. Ever the skeptic, I'm not sure if it will work, but at least we're trying something. She was still a little fussy after she woke up, but she cheered up just in time for Daddy to get home. Always good for Daddy. I decided to go ahead and start the soy tonight and Reagan loved it! She drank down that 4oz bottle in no time! I'm wondering if it was just because it was something new or if she actually liked it. I didn't even have to add hershey's syrup to it...although if I stop the syrup I'm going to have to find another way to get 250 additional calories into her. But if she actually likes it, maybe I can get her to drink more of it. We'll see. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, this was just the first bottle. Of course my main hope is that this change over to soy will put an end to these horrible tummy pains we've been dealing with. Please keep that in your prayers. I'm still waiting to hear back from her doctor about increasing the Keppra. I decided to increase tonight's dose by a little (0.25ml) to see if we see any change. I have a feeling the doctor will tell me to increase it further, but at least we're on our way up. I would love to see some seizure improvement and sleeping better at night would be a nice bonus.
Reagan was up a lot again last night. She was up and irritable...not a good combination when you are exhausted in the middle of the night. We had an appt with the Feldenkrais practitioner this morning and I was afraid we might have to cancel it because of her nasty mood. But Grandma came over and Reagan perked right up. I was very impressed with this lady...a huge step up from the ABM practitioner we saw in Austin who seemed to not do much of anything. What's funny is she was doing some of the same stuff but in a more practical and fast paced way (less pausing for Reagan to "integrate the information" and more doing). In my opinion, what she was doing more closely resembled the videos I've seen of Anat working with children. I went in pessimistic and came out pleasantly surprised. Reagan did awesome and couldn't have behaved better. She had Reagan completely relaxed laying on her side, knees bent (including her right leg which she hates to bend), back flat and no extension whatsoever. I was impressed with that alone. She also did some stretching with her hip/pelvis that really helped her to stop arching her back against the floor and lay flat. She worked her from head to toe. I think this is something I'd like to continue with, at least for a little while to see how Reagan responds. I'll probably try to fit another session in next week before our trip to Detroit. We went out of our way to go do those first four sessions in Austin and we probably should have just tried this lady first. Oh well. I have noticed that Reagan seems to be much more visually attentive lately (I think since those sessions but Mike thinks before). When you talk to her or she sees you out of the corner of her eye, she'll turn and look right at you, something she rarely if ever used to do. Lots more eye contact. She won't hold it for too long, but it's a noticeable improvement. After the morning session we came home and Reagan had back to back sessions of PT and vision. Poor thing. I think 3 sessions in a day is just too much. Therapy overload. She did finally go down for a nap afterward, her first real nap of the day. I'm hoping the lack of sleep today will help her to sleep more soundly tonight, although there's not always a direct correlation. What I have noticed is the less sleep I get, the more obsessed I become about getting sleep. When Reagan was sleeping through the night, we were all beyond thrilled, but we didn't dwell on it like we do now. Please pray that we'll get some relief in this area soon.
Sleep was improved last night. Was it the classical music I had playing, in addition to her regular rainfall background noise? Probably not, but it was nice. Reagan woke up around 4am and I brought her downstairs where she proceeded to have lots of seizures and resist going back to sleep. She seemed content though, so I laid back down and a few seconds later she'd start fussing. This went on for a while until I gave her enough koolaid to quench her thirst and she finally fell back asleep. For us, that was a good night's sleep. Then drama first thing this morning. Our newly hired helper was a no show. Not surprising. She's been calling in sick on a fairly regular basis and then emailing me last minute to tell me she wouldn't be coming in. I checked my email and there it was, her concession speech. She was only working for us for about two months but she missed often. We wanted someone dependable, who could be flexible with our schedule and apparently she wanted the same thing. It's unfortunate because she seemed to genuinely care for Reagan. I think the problem was she was just too young. Not ready for this or anything that resembled a real job. I guess the search is on for someone new, hopefully we'll find the right person this time. Please keep that in your prayers. That was just the start to our day. Reagan had OT (at home) and then feeding therapy & OT (30min away). She was in a really great mood today, so that made everything a lot easier. I decided to go ahead and decrease her pm dose of Topomax back down to 4 pills (60mg)...increasing it didn't seem to help her seizures and it just increases her chance for acidosis. Next step will be to increase her pm dose of Keppra. I'll probably consult with her neurologist on that one (since she's already on a very high dose). I'm so sick of the constant guessing with medications. Why can't we just get something to work for her? As always, prayers needed in that area.


One of the small, unassuming—and much cooler than you might expect—exhibits at Pacific Science Center is the Particle Aquarium, also known as a cloud chamber or cosmic ray aquarium.
The particle aquarium creates a supersaturated environment of alcohol vapor. Charged particles (from space as cosmic rays or from radioactive decay closer at hand) pass through this supersaturated field. They leave behind a trail of ions, and those ions are nucleation sites, places where the alcohol vapor can condense into liquid droplets, which makes a trail of tiny droplets of alcohol. You see those trails, so you're seeing the path of a cosmic ray from space.
As many cosmic rays as you see in the chamber, there are more than that there, and just that many are going through your body too at this very moment. You can also identify characteristics of the particle by examining the shape of the path.
At the top is a place where alcohol is dripped into a small tray that runs around the edge. This is where the alcohol is heated until it evaporates, filling the entire chamber with alcohol vapor. At the bottom of the chamber is a chilled plate. As the vapor falls towards the plate it cools, creating a supersaturated layer of vapor near the bottom of the chamber. This layer is primed and ready to condense, it just needs a little push.
Any kind of push will create condensation in the supersaturated layer. As a charged particle passes through air it leaves a trail of ions in its wake. This is not to say ions are falling off the charged particle—no, it is interacting with the molecules in the air, turning them into ions.
Those ions cause the supersaturated alcohol vapor to condense, which shows the trail of the charged particle. The droplets fall to the cooled plate, and the track disappears.
Remember back in chemistry when you learned that an atom has protons and neutrons in the nucleus, and is surrounded by a cloud of electrons? You also learned the protons (positive charge) and electrons (negative charge) tend to be in balance with each other, giving you a neutral atom. Depending on your teacher she might have called this a "happy atom." Well, knock one of those electrons away—because it's way more complicated to knock off a proton, we call that fission—and you create a positive ion, or what your teacher might have called an "unhappy atom." You can do the opposite too—add an electron—and you have a negative ion.
Alpha radiation is Helium nucleii (Heliums without electrons)—they have a positive charge, and are fairly heavy as particles go.
Beta radiation is either electrons or positrons. When they're electrons they have a negative charge, when positrons they'll have a positive charge. These are fairly lightweight.
Gamma radiation is photons. They're charge-less and very lightweight.
Cascade events: one ray/particle interacts with something, causing several rays/particles to be released making their own tracks.
Curvature: in the presence of a magnetic field, positively charged particles will curve one direction and negatively charged particles will curve the opposite way.
Both of these mean acquiring items which are generally not that safe to carry around unprotected, and sometimes require special licenses to have in your possession.
Introduce a strong magnetic field. The path of a charged particle changes in the presence of a magnetic field.
Introduce a radioactive source. Radioactive sources create charged particles.
Supersaturated—when mixing sugar in your tea, you can only dissolve so much. If you heat up your tea you can dissolve more. If you then let your tea cool off, under ideal conditions, the sugar stays dissolved, even though you couldn't have dissolved that much sugar in cold tea. This is a supersaturated solution – it's more saturated than you could make it normally. This is why you should either add sugar to your iced tea before you cool it – or you have to add sugar syrup.
Nucleation site—if you then drop a sugar crystal or some such into the cold, supersaturated tea a the sugar will start to come out of solution and grow more sugar crystals on that first one. The first crystal (which can sometimes just be a rough spot, a spoon, a string, or a piece of sand) is the nucleation site. It acts as a nucleus for the new crystals.
Ion—an atom with too many or too few electrons.
I need to do more research, there are two major problems with this article. First – I use the words particle and ray almost interchangeably, I should sort that out. Second – I would like to clarify how to identify types of radiation, and the likelihood the rays you're seeing are from space versus from radioactive elements in the Earth. I'll keep working on it, but this should definitely get you started on figuring out how awesome the particle aquarium is. Oh, and I want to stick in some pictures.
I LOVE the Particle Aquarium! Before seeing it I had no idea that one could create a working cloud chamber in that small a space that could keep itself maintained while displaying cosmic ray events every few seconds. So cool.


October 31, 2018: Israel is warning Lebanon and Iraq that Iranian use of their territory to upgrade unguided rockets with GPS guidance kits will result in Israeli airstrikes to destroy those operations unless local governments act. Lebanon is more of a problem because of its relationship with Iran and Syria. Hezbollah, a 1980s creation of Iran, is an autonomous military force in Lebanon and dominates local politics via terror and threats of violence against those who resist. Hezbollah, like its patron Iran, is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Iran is currently trying to turn Syria and Iraq into subject states similar to Lebanon. Most Syrians and Iraqis want to avoid this but it isn't easy because Iran is clever, determined and fanatic about the "destroy Israel" thing. What complicates the situation in Syria is that there a lot of major players.
Although Russia, Turkey and Iraq are technically allies with Iran in Syria the historical record shows Iran is historically hostile, and often at war, with these nations and that has been the case for centuries, long before Israel came along in 1948. What makes the unusual alliance possible is that everyone can agree on the need to get rid of the remaining Islamic terrorist rebel groups in Syria. Most of these are currently surrounded in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib. There are some ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) groups hiding out in eastern Syria but these are seen as much less of a threat than the tens of thousands of Islamic terrorists in Idlib. Despite the remaining Islamic terrorist threat in Syria, everyone in and bordering Syria would like to see the Iranians go back to Iran and stay there. The few hundred Iranian troops and over 50,000 Iranian mercenaries in Syria are seen as a constant source of trouble. Iran realizes that their allies in Syria have, and will probably continue, to collaborate with Israel if an opportunity presents itself. Yet Iranian leaders fail to see the absurdity of this situation and despite the widespread popular protest in Iran against the Syrian operations the Iranian leaders continue to operate like its forces in Syria are on the verge of destroying Israel.
Turkey is increasingly unsure about its alliance with Russia. Turkeys' decades of membership in NATO has given Turks a different, and more professional, military experience than their Russian and Iranian counterparts. For that reason, the Turks have attempted to run their own operation along the Syrian border and most of their disputes were with fellow NATO members, mainly the Americans. With the Russians, the Turks are concerned about the Russian tendency to fantasize, especially when it comes to tech. The Russians and the Iranians have a tendency to announce new military gear that does not perform as advertised. This is particularly the case with weapons sold to Arab nations. The Russians have been doing this since 1950s and found the Arabs are even more into self-serving fantasy than the Russians. The latest example is the recent delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Syria. The arrival of these S-300s was officially prompted by a September incident when, in the immediate aftermath of an Israeli airstrike, a Syrian S-200 SAM (Surface to Air missile) shot down a Russian four-engine Il-20 maritime patrol aircraft off the coast. Russia blamed Israel and Turkey kept quiet because the Turks knew what happened and were appalled that the Russians would not recognize the problems and try to fix them. There were three issues the Russians ignored. First, the Israeli warplanes were back in Israel when the Il-20 was shot down. Second, the Syrians frequently launch lots of SAMs right after an Israeli airstrike even through Syrian radars provide no evidence of where any Israeli warplanes are. The Syrian air defense commanders fire lots of missiles to show that they are "doing something" even though they never manage to shoot down any Israeli warplanes. Third, the Syrians and Russians are supposed to have an IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) system whereby Russian aircraft carry an IFF transmitter that will tell Syrian SAMs (or SAM unit commanders) that the Russian aircraft is "friendly" and not to be fired on.
Russia and Syria imply that the Israelis somehow deceived Russian and Syrian equipment and were at fault for the Il-20 loss. The Turks know better, and so do many Russian and Syrian officers. But the official line for Russians and Syrians is that the Israelis are somehow responsible and don't bother us with reality because that's not how we roll. By bringing in the more advanced and powerful S-300 systems and giving them to the same Syrians who cannot handle S-200s correctly what can one expect? Nothing good, especially since the Russians are also bringing in more of their EW (Electronic Warfare) equipment and promise to use it. This bothers the Turks because the Russian EW gear is often quite powerful but also tends to produce unexpected (and unfavorable) results in a combat zone. This puts Turkish aircraft and troops at greater risk and also sets the Russians and Syrians up for even more embarrassment. That also makes Russian assurances of how they will aid the Turks in dealing with the last rebel stronghold in Syria (Idlib province) more of a risk. The Turks have always considered the Syrians as unreliable and unpredictable and were hoping the Russians would be an improvement. Improving is not what Russia does these days. Mostly it is improvising and that is a riskier and more uncertain approach to anything. Meanwhile, the Israelis are quietly continuing to launch airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah operations in Syria.
Iran is finding less consideration and cooperation from its allies in Syria. Russia, Turkey and the Assad government see the continuing Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria as a matter between Israel and Iran. The obsession with destroying Israel is seen as an Iranian weakness. Discussions continue on how Russia, Iran and Turkey will operate in Syria once the civil war is officially over. Iran insists that it will still be in Syria at that point. Syria is negotiating peace deals with Kurds (who control the northeast), Druze (who occupy much of the Israeli-Jordan border) and Sunni groups (tribal leaders and local leaders who have not been hostile). Syria wants to attract a lot of foreign aid for reconstruction but that is complicated by Iranian plans to establish a permanent military presence and continue threatening Israel. Several members of the Assad clan are facing war crimes charges and Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan want to send back several million Sunni Arab refugees (which the Assads do not want). The war will not end quickly or in a tidy fashion.
In Gaza (the smaller of the two Palestinian territories) Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group that has controlled the Palestinian enclave since 2007, has suffered another defeat in its most recent war with Israel. Actually it's worse than that as Hamas has, at the same time, suffered setbacks in its struggles against Fatah (the other Palestinian government in the West Bank), Islamic Jihad (a smaller, Iran backed Gaza rival) and Egypt (that has also blockaded its border crossing and shut down most of the smuggling tunnels. These multiple catastrophes were triggered by another Hamas effort to develop a new strategy that would defeat, or at least hurt, Israel. Once more Hamas thought they had it had it all figured out only to discover that the Israeli military superiority represented more than weapons and well-trained troops.
The Hamas defeat in the latest war (that began in March) was due to being outmaneuvered by Israeli tactics that exposed the weaknesses and ruthlessness of Hamas and left the rulers of Gaza much worse off than when they began. This time Hamas thought they could win via a media war campaign by encouraging civilians (via free food, publicity and cash payments for those injured or killed) to try and physically force their way through the security fence and into Israel. It didn't work and so far over 200 Palestinians have died. One Israeli has been killed, by a Hamas sniper using a long-range 12.7mm Iranian sniper rifle. Hamas lost dozens of members, many of the promising young leaders. So did Islamic Jihad. These men were in the crowds to urge the largely male (and teenage) force to keep going in the face of tear gas, rubber bullets and real bullets for the few who made it through the fence. This was all captured on video, from both sides, and it did not reflect well on Hamas, which lost more support from its few remaining Arab allies (and donors). This included Egypt, which also closed its border to Gaza as well as increasing efforts to find and destroy Hamas smuggling tunnels into Egypt. One surprisingly successful aspect of this round of violence was the Hamas use of kites and balloons to send fire bombs across the border. So far these attacks have burned over 2,800 hectares (6,900 acres) of shrub, forest and farmland. The kite and balloon assembly and launch sites are increasingly being hit with airstrikes and artillery, contributing to the Palestinian death toll. The fire kites and balloons are the only things the Gazans can get across the border, depending on the wind.
Another Hamas defeat, that was not unexpected, was new Israeli technology which made it very difficult (and apparently, for the moment, impossible) to dig tunnels under the security fence and into Israel. Moreover, it soon became apparent that the Israelis had no intention of invading, as they had in 2014. That war was another major disappointment for Hamas and they failed to realize that the Israelis learned more from the 2014 war than Hamas did. Six months into this latest war Hamas is faced with more unrest among the nearly two million Palestinians it rules. Hamas is under even greater pressure from its rival Fatah, which rules the West Bank. Egypt, which had brokered numerous efforts to achieve peace with Israel, is pressuring Hamas to make peace with Fatah and form a unified Palestinian government, even though everyone believes Hamas would no longer be in charge of Gaza, or anything else because the group has become so unpopular with most Palestinians. Everyone in the Arab world wants Hamas and Fatah to merge. But the long record of failure means that would cost Hamas its control over Gaza where most Palestinians are decidedly anti-Hamas. In fact, the only ally Sunni Hamas has is Shia (and non-Arab) Iran which is currently calling for Iranian Shia to replace the Sunni Arabs who have always controlled the most sacred Islamic shrines in Mecca. Because of this latest war against Israel Hamas has less support in Gaza, fewer Arab allies, less cash and is generally despised by the Arab world.
Most importantly Israel learned that they could defeat Hamas without invading Gaza. That deprived Hamas of an opportunity to get lots of Gaza civilians killed because Hamas had learned how to construct new residential buildings (from single-family homes to apartment buildings) with military features. Hamas learned that from Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia. Hezbollah builds a lot of new government, commercial and residential buildings and all have a secondary military purpose. Often it is just ammunition storage bunkers in the basement and special passageways to allow rockets to be quickly moved to firing positions (either right next to or in the building). Hezbollah shared its techniques for forcing civilians to stay in their homes during conflicts, even though these homes and been weaponized and were now legitimate military targets. Israel could have gone after Hamas anyway but found it better to stop Hamas at the border fence and let Gazans know what else Hamas had in store for them. For Hamas, that was not a win.
The Egyptian campaign against ISIL in Sinai, that began in February, continues. So far that effort has killed some 400 Islamic terrorists and arrested over a thousand suspects. More than a thousand roadside bombs, landmines and other explosives were disabled or destroyed before they could be used (to kill, on average, more civilians than anyone else). Hundreds of ISIL motorbikes and other vehicles have been seized along with hundreds of rifles and machine-guns and large quantities of ammo and other military equipment. At least once a month the military releases a summary of recent operations and the list always contains many hideouts and much equipment (and weapons) seized as well as many (often fifty or more) mines and roadside bombs disabled. These operations are also doing a lot of damage to Sinai based smuggling operations. The government is telling the smugglers (usually Bedouins) that if they want to avoid these counter-terrorism raids, don't work with the Islamic terrorists, especially ISIL. That has had some impact although by now most of the Sinai tribes have turned against ISIL, which is still the primary Islamic terror group operating in Sinai. That is largely because Egypt has greatly reduced access between Gaza and Egypt. Gaza is still a sanctuary for several Islamic terror groups but because of another Hamas military campaign against Israel Gaza is difficult to get in or out of. That leaves a much diminished ISIL as the major terrorist threat in Sinai. ISIL can still attract some recruits and other support but, as happened in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere ISIL made too many enemies and is declining. ISIL has tried moving to other parts of Egypt but has not found any part of the country as "hospitable" as Sinai.
October 30, 2018: In the last few days three Gulf Arab states (UAE, Oman and Bahrain) have openly admitted their links to Israel. The UAE and Oman have recently received Israeli leaders as official visitors. So far the closer Arabian ties with Israel have not generated a lot of internal unrest. That may not be the case in Saudi Arabia, the largest and most powerful Arabian state. Despite that risk, Saudi Arabia has taken the lead in forming an alliance with Israel. The last time there was such public enthusiasm for Israel was in the 1990s after Israel and the Palestinians met in Norway and worked out a peace deal. In 2000, when Israel offered a peace deal that the Palestinians would love to have today, the Palestinians turned it down because the radicals wanted Israel destroyed and nothing less would do. That did not work out well and this time around most Moslem nations blame the Palestinians and see Israel as a much more reliable and useful ally and economic partner. The Palestinians are still calling for the destruction of Israel but the only one siding with them is Iran, which has declared war on the Arab states, especially the one in Arabia with lots of oil.
October 29, 2018: Israel admitted that it continues to carry out airstrikes in Syria against Iranian and Hezbollah targets. Since Septembers 17 (when a Syrian SAM shot down a Russian recon plane off the coast in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike) most of the news has been about Russia sending Syria free S-300 SAM batteries (which are still not operational) and openly blaming Israel for the loss of the recon aircraft and its 15 member crew. Israel rarely comments on these airstrikes, at least not soon after they occur or not until someone else (Syria, Iran or Russia) complains. None of these nations mentioned (much less complained of) recent Israeli airstrikes but the news eventually gets out as the aftermath of these airstrikes is very visible and not hidden.
In the south (the Gaza border) local Israeli civilians held a demonstration that blocked traffic into Gaza at the only Israeli crossings. Although many items are banned, basics like food, medicine and fuel are shipped int0 Gaza. The Israeli civilians wanted stronger measures to be used against Islamic terrorists in Gaza in order to stop the border violence. It took a few hours to clear the demonstrators out of the way and allow trucks to get into Gaza again.
October 28, 2018: Details of recent Israel-Saudi Arabia security cooperation were revealed. The clandestine meetings between Israeli and Saudi security officials have been an open secret for years and are now rarely clandestine. Now it was revealed that Israel had recently sold the Saudis $250 million worth of high-tech espionage gathering equipment. Israeli firms are major developers and manufacturers of this equipment and this was the first major sale to a Gulf Arab nation.
In Gaza Islamic Jihad said it would agree to a ceasefire if Egypt could arrange one and Israel would agree to it. Israel believes that Iran ordered Islamic Jihad to make the rocket attack and will continue to order Islamic Jihad to take such orders because Iran is the primary backer of Islamic Jihad and without that support, Islamic Jihad would be much reduced in size and influence.
October 27, 2018: Overnight Gaza based Islamic Jihad fired at least 34 rockets into southern Israel. Thirteen rockets, headed for populated areas, were intercepted by Iron Dome. Another two rockets landed in Gaza and the rest landed in unpopulated areas of Israel. Six civilians were injured, mainly from shock or accidents rushing for shelters. After sunrise, Israeli airstrikes hit 95 Islamic Jihad and Hamas facilities in Gaza. In the afternoon Islamic Jihad told Egyptian mediators that they were willing to observe a ceasefire with Israel. Islamic Jihad takes it orders from Iran while Hamas has a little more autonomy.
In Egypt (Cairo), someone placed a bomb behind a police vehicle. When the bomb went off it wounded a police commander.
October 26, 2018: The Israeli prime minister visited the Persian Gulf state of Oman for the first time and met with Omani ruler Sultan Qaboos. News of the visit was kept secret until it was over. Oman is one of the Arab states that has backed diplomatic recognition of Israel and accepting Israel as an ally in the struggle against Iran.
Hamas organized its weekly assembly of thousands of civilians who, urged on by hundreds of Hamas members, attempt to force their way through the security fence. This week five Gazans were killed and about 170 wounded in yet another failed effort to get into Israel. This has been going on since March. Hamas has offered to reduce the violence if Israel paid Hamas $15 million a month in cash.
Later in the day, more than 30 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. Israel believes Iran ordered Islamic Jihad to fire all these rockets. It was later claimed that the rocket fire was in retaliation for the four Palestinians killed during the Friday fence demonstrations. Three of the dead were teenagers seen planting a bomb at the fence and hit with an airstrike. Over the weekend the airstrikes kept up and by the 29th there had been nearly a hundred airstrikes. Most were directed at Hamas targets, mainly because Hamas is by far the largest Islamic terror organization in Gaza. Iran-backed Islamic Jihad had all its major facilities hit.
In western Egypt (the Libyan frontier), border guards detected, intercepted and seized two four-wheel drive trucks attempting to cross the border via the desert. In the trucks, smugglers had over a ton of illegal drugs and five rifles, ammo and a satellite phone. The primary cargo was the drugs (mainly a million methamphetamine pills and marijuana). Illegal drugs have replaced weapons as the most valuable items smugglers can bring out of Libya.
October 25, 2018: In Egypt (northern Sinai), a roadside bomb killed four workers and wounded ten others who were on their way to work on construction of a security wall in the city of El Arish. The attackers were believed to be ISIL, seeking to discourage work on the wall.
October 24, 2018: In the south (Gaza), a rocket fired from Gaza hit a residential area in Israel but there were no injuries. It is rare for a rocket to evade Iron Dome interception and the event is being investigated. In response, eight Islamic terrorist targets in Gaza were bombed.
Israel revealed that it had refused Russian demands that Russia be notified about all Israeli airstrikes in Syria.
In Egypt (Western Desert) troops raided a desert cave and found it was an Islamic terrorist base. The eleven armed men there fought to the death but failed to blow up the weapons and bomb-making equipment in the cave.
October 20, 2018: In Egypt (northern Sinai), gunmen attacked four men outside their homes, killing three and wounding a fourth. The victims all worked on construction of a security wall in the city of El Arish. The attackers were believed to be ISIL, seeking to discourage work on the wall. Elsewhere in the area there two raids on suspected Islamic terrorist hideouts. Six Islamic terrorists were killed, two policemen wounded and much equipment (and weapons) seized.
October 17, 2018: In the south (Gaza), a rocket fired from Gaza hit a residential area but there were no injuries. It is rare for a rocket to evade Iron Dome interception and the event is being investigated. In response, Israeli airstrikes hit twenty Islamic terrorist targets in Gaza and fuel deliveries were temporarily suspended.
October 15, 2018: In Egypt (Western Desert), troops raided a desert cave and found it was an Islamic terrorist base. The nine armed men there refused to surrender and fought to the death. Documents, weapons and bomb-making equipment were found in the cave.
October 8, 2018: In northern Libya (Derna), LNA (Libyan National Army) forces captured the local ISIL leader, Hesham Ashmwai, along with the widow and two daughters of prominent Egyptian Islamic terrorist leader Omar Rifai Sorour. The widow confirmed that her husband had died of wounds suffered from an airstrike in Derna and revealed his burial site. This was considered a major event because Ashmwai, a former Egyptian special operations officer, had been a notably effective Islamic terrorist leader in Libya and long sought. Ashmwai continued to organize attacks in Egypt after he moved to Libya in 2014 (to recover from wounds). Ashmwai was the most wanted Islamic terrorist in Egypt. Ashmwai agreed to provide LNA interrogators with information on what he knew of current and past Islamic terrorists operations he was involved with. Egypt wants Ashmwai returned to Egypt for interrogation and prosecution. The LNA may have agreed to keep him away from Egypt in return for information. Western or Russian intel agencies would like to have Ashmwai for questioning and that may be how the LNA is keeping Ashmwai out of Egypt without offending the Egyptians unduly. On October 21st the widow Sorour, who is Egyptian, and her daughters were turned over to Egypt by the LNA, which has been supported by Egypt for years. Raids like this are capturing a lot of key Egyptian and Libyan Islamic terrorists or their families and that results in a lot of useful information on past, current and future Islamic terrorist operations in North Africa.
October 6, 2018: In the north (Golan Heights) several dozen Israeli Druze held a pro-Assad demonstration that was acknowledged by Syrian soldiers guarding the border (who shouted encouragement). The Israeli border police did not interfere because even though most of the 20,000 Druze living in Israeli controlled (since 1967) Golan Heights have retained their Syrian nationality they have been loyal to Israel. A growing number of younger Druze are accepting the offer of Israeli citizenship. Many of the Druze in Syria (about five percent of the population) turned against the Assad government by 2015. Since late 2014 al Nusra and other Syrian rebels controlled most of the border adjacent to Israel. This created problems with the Israeli Druze who feared for the safety of the 500,000 Syrian Druze.
The 130,000 Israeli Druze have been pressuring Israel since 2013 to rescue or help protect Druze living across the border in Syria. Israel agreed to help but never released a lot of details. The solution apparently involved quietly making deals with Syrian rebels. This solution meant there was no need to allow lots of Syrian Druze into Israel or send Israeli troops across the border to establish a "safe zone" for Syrian Druze. This would preserve the lands of Syrian Druze and not turn them into refugees, but would also be more expensive (in cash and lives) for Israel by establishing a new border. That never happened. With ISIL gone from the Israeli border by late 2017, al Nusra (al Qaeda rebels) and Assad forces controlled most of the border. Al Nusra was driven away from the Israeli border by Syrian soldiers and Iranian mercenaries in early 2018 and now the entire southern border is controlled by the Assad forces.
October 3, 2018: In northwest Syria (Latakia province) S-300 SAM equipment for the Syrian military began arriving by air. This equipment is from the Russian 583rd Air Defense Regiment based near Murmansk on the Russian northern coast (Arctic Ocean). Russia said this unit had recently upgraded to the S-400 and that their former S-300PM equipment was checked over and any problems were fixed. Russia often sells or gives away these used S-300 systems. Flying 39 vehicles (launchers, radars, control vans) to Syria via An-124 transports included some of their Russian operators and maintainers. Russia says Syrian crews will be trained by the end of October but that seems unlikely. It is quite possible that Russia is sending enough S-300 operators to get at least one of the batteries operational by the end of October but that did not happen. Russia wants the S-300s capable of confronting the Israeli air threat to Iranian and Syrian forces as soon as possible and is actually sending experienced crews along. Russia said it is providing the three S-300 batteries (24 launchers plus associated search radars and control centers) free of charge. Senior Israeli officials have said the S-300 won't make any difference in Syria and that Israeli forces can deal with the S-300s as effectively as they did the S-200s. Israel already has lots of experience with the S-400 batteries Russia has brought in to protect its bases near the Mediterranean coast and Israel sees the Russian S-300s for the Syrians as an unfriendly gesture as well as a potentially embarrassing one. If the Israelis go ahead, as they say they will, and keep attacking Iranian targets and the Syrians use their S-300 systems to try and stop them and get the same dismal results as they did with their S-200 systems it is bad news for Russian military tech. Maybe Russia felt it had no choice after the recent embarrassing incident (a Syrian S-200 missile destroyed an Il-20 maritime surveillance aircraft operating off the coast). But Russia is doing more than deliver S-300 missiles, it is also assigning Russian troops to operate with Iranian forces, making it more likely that Russians will get hurt if the Iranians get hit by an Israeli airstrike. The Israelis have made it clear they will not tolerate an Iranian presence in Syria and if the Russians want to take more losses because of that, it is a Russian decision.


At Resonate, we do it all. Tracking, Overdubbing, Editing, and Mixing. We've given birth to literally hundreds of Gold, Platinum and Diamond Albums, both here and at our old Hollywood joint, Image Recording. Countless of them have gone on to win Grammy's, Oscars and Emmy's. We've won two Tec Awards for our work with The Dave Matthews Band and Green Day. And to top it all off, we're still having one heck of a lot of fun over here!
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