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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Monday, April 18, 2011

Beautimos!























Well the Dallas Stroll for Epilepsy has come and gone again.  I can NOT believe it!!!  Seriously, it has been way too long since my last post and now even 1 week or more since the Dallas stroll for Epilepsy!  What a wonderful event! We had gorgeous weather, a HUGE crowd, and much love to go around.

Team All 4 Jake raised over $3,000 and our team grew to over 95 members!

My little brother, my mom, my sister in law and niece and nephew were able to join us this year.  How special that was. 

Unfortunately, with our busy lives, which is a great thing, I have not even had a chance to upload any pictures yet.

Busy lives, being a great thing, meaning.....we are now busier, as we don't feel the need to sit around the house and wait..... and watch..... Jake have seizures.

But, over Spring Break a dear friend, and an awesome photographer took some pictures of the twerps and I just had to share, as they make my heart melt each and every time I see them.  How do I choose which ones to post is the question...

Children are not the people of tomorrow, but are people of today. They have a right to be taken seriously, and to be treated with tenderness and respect. They should be allowed to grow into whoever they were meant to be. 'The unknown person' inside each of them is our hope for the future.



-- Janusz Korczak