dan had a nuerology appt yesterday 11-29-2012 we discussed many, many things-- one thing she couldnt figure out was dans body weight and his lamital doseage and his blood levels they did not correspond --- she said he should easily be at a 9 but he is always at a 3 or so--- i told her dan positivly takes his med - i have dogs and little kids so i make sure every pill is taken care of... she never doubted that anyhow... so she started reviewing his meds and --- his dilantin and his lamicatal are adversarial meds-- meaning it is OK to take together but they knock each others potency down... so then we figured out how it all began.. he was on keppra only - got keppra rage- moved to lamictal ( slow titration) had a seizure, protocol at the ER is IV dilantin.. so the dilantin was introduced that way and just sorta continued... so even though my theory of dans seizures not being all the bad ( of which nuerolgy gal said - BS - it is "pickling his brain" ( we have a pretty good candid relationship) .. so we are titrating his dilantin down and then we will see where we land... oh it would be so nice if no seizures!! and i did talk to her about the etanercept again she has done research on it and said go for it--- same with the hyperbaric treatments -- go for it........ she said unfortunatley there are treatments for all kinds of issues that insurance wont pay for- so they never are recognised or utalized by several because of the cost -sadly-... then we talked about the fact the doc is a dermatologist and G P and she said it is irrelevent... and then we discussed the drug itself and how even with the on label purposes etanercept is a 50/50 drug doesent work all the time for everyone..... and etanercept has become a known drug for alzheimers now so i have a lot more food for thought.. still not jumping a plane, but am doing a lot of thinking and budgeting/forcasting... also got our handicap tag renewed ,ND is making everyone renew their tags.. and got referrals for a consult about a hinged brace for dans foot/leg and a fitting script for a sleeping hand brace for dan--- so it was a very "productive" appt !!