J a k e

J a k e
at the beach in Destin

Jake's story

July 21st was a normal day, as were the days of summer before. Everything was in it's place. School days were approaching and the family was enjoying the last days by the pool, ignored bedtimes and high popsicle counts.

Then July 22, 2008 came....

Jake had his first seizure. I did not recognize it as such. It was not until he had several more of these "little jerks" and bloody noses that I thought this could be seizure activity. We were scheduled to see a neurologist on August 4th, after going through our pediatrician, however we didn't make it that far. I was awakened August 1st, by Jake in a full seizure (6 minutes long)...he started to turn blue so I called 911....

Here begins our journey......

...we were taken by ambulance to the hospital. Checked in. Released. 3 more grand mal seizures after being released. Checked back in. Sent home 3 days later. Another grand mal, this one lasting a whopping 11 minutes and taken by ambulance again. Stayed at Childrens Dallas for a week. Upping meds, changing meds and mixing meds.
Diagnosis: Epilepsy
Cause: Unknown
We have now found, through some absolutely amazing family and extended family, whom I will NEVER be able to thank enough, the wonderful doctors and nurses at Cook Childrens Hospital in Fort Worth, who are continuing to help us through this. We have had another grand last thursday, and are averaging anywhere from 5-30 seizures (jerks, drops, stares) a day. I was to begin back teaching at Apollo, but am having to put that on hold until the seizures are controlled. Jake is not able to go back to school until he is 30 days seizure free. We are still waiting for that ONE day. Please pray for our family and for little Jake. Although this is not the end of the world, it is a huge hurdle we WILL overcome. Pray for courage for Jake, understanding as parents, good doctors and for the right medicines.

Jake's mom, Christine


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Friday, January 2, 2009

The return




Merry New Year!

Addison was still at my parents. Matt met some friends for Bowl games and lunch. Jake and I were left to a peaceful afternoon all to our selves. We venture out on a hour long walk. we watch some grade schoolers play a little football at the park,we run through the fields playing tag with trash cans, and stroll hand and hand contemplating the new year. Peaceful, to say the least.

We return to the pleasingly empty house and cuddle, talk, read, and "bark" at some dogs through our dining room window.

Oh the damn barking, window, and window sills.

I lug my laptop in the room to be with Jake as he howls, growls and yaps at the dogs passing by. I am an arms and legs distance away from the "dog yapper," he is wearing his helmet, and after about 5 minutes minutes of this I am starting to tell him to go play away from the window and stop barking.

About this time I see him collapse and hear a "BANG!" Down he goes.

I mumble something under my breath, or probably shouted it , as the house was empty.

Reach to pick him up,

and BLOOD!

But, it's not from the chin, small victory, as I could not stomach replacing the 21 brand new stitches, that are to be taken out Sunday.

The blood is coming from his mouth and maybe nose. I lift his lip to looking and see,

more blood, a large flap, and a black hole.

This doesn't look good.

I am aware usually one does not do much, if anything for mouth cuts, but this looks bad. I call the after hours clinic and ask several questions and it comes down to :

If it won't stop bleeding, or there is a flap, he needs to go to the emergency room, as they can't repair it there.

So off we go again. I grab the iPod and the Fisher Price go with me dvd player, call my mom, because I don't want to alarm Matt and ruin his time catching up with friends, and head out.


Merry New Year! Happy Christmas!

I groan, as we drive up, because the er parking lot is packed, and the waiting room is equally crowded.

Surprisingly though, the admittance clerk is extremely nice, when usually we have someone grumble "fill out the papers," and point to where they are.

The wait is surprisingly short, and in triage Jake scores a frog!

Is all this symbolism for better things to come?!

I walk, with a smile, to room "24" (good number)

We wait maybe 10 minute for the doctor and he gives us the news.

Jake tore his gums not his lip. I guess on the way down he snagged his upper lip on the window sill and continued to the floor.

His frenum was ripped and there is indeed a hole.

Treatment:
If I wanted to sedate him, we could stitch it up.

No Thanks! I opt to let it heal naturally.

We leave the all too frequented er in Plano, in less than a hour, less 100$, no stitches and a happy green frog!





“I do believe that when we face challenges in life that are far beyond our own power, it's an opportunity to build on our faith, inner strength, and courage. I've learned that how we face challenges plays a big role in the outcome of them.”
Sasha Azevedo

God Bless~ Christine

Appaently I have not been keeping a seizure count.
New Years eve >3
New Years day >3

2 comments:

Julie said...

The frog pic made me giggle. He is going to be a heartbreaker when he is old enough to date!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I had been wondering what had happened. I am glad all ended well without stitches. What do you think the total stitches count is? And I agree with Julie he is going to be a heartbreaker....