Hello!

Just wanted to introduce myself. My son, BJ, is 4-years-old and was born with a rare cluster of birth defects called VACTERL Association. He also had tethered cord. He has had 7 surgeries and is doing awesome...you wouln't know a thing was ever wrong with him.

Until recently. About three weeks ago he started yawning excessively. On average about once every 25-seconds, but sometimes even more intensely. He may go for several hours with only yawning a couple of times and then have a couple of hours where he will yawn several times a minute. It doesn't look like his usual yawn or sound normal.

We took him to his pediatrician who believes this is most likely a tic. At my request we had basic bloodwork done which came back normal. We self-referred to a neurologist who ordered an EEG. That came back normal. But, the neurologist saw his yawning in clinic and agreed it was odd...either an usual tic or an atypical seizure. He recommended doing an inpatient study EEG with video 24-48 hours. That is schedule in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, we are very anxious. We got a pulseox to check his oxygen levels...which have been fine.

We have noticed that he seems to blink a lot, but maybe it's because the yawning is making his eyes water.

We have also noticed that he complains of itching - most on his right hip, but also the side of his head.

His sleeping and eating and everything else has been normal. He says he's not tired and doesn't hurt anywhere and doesn't feel out of breath.

So, here I am hoping that one of you out there has experience with something similar, has ideas, or recommendations.

It does seem the yawning has changed a bit in the past two days...it's more breathy and not as much like a yawn.

Any ideas at all are much appreciated!

Thank you,
Rebecca