Some Christmas Pics ( I know Im late on these)

Look out Ladies!!

The Pig trough

Imaging that, Dawson climbing on something !!

Black Lab Puppy for Christmas

ummmmmmmmm???

Horsey Rides

Bitten??

Saturday evening during a Christmas dinner we were having over here, I noticed a small little purple mark on Dawson's stomach right about where the waistband of his diaper is. Didn't think too much about it and actually kind of thought he fell down somewhere and got a little bruise or something. Later on that evening we noticed the purple dot had two little fang looking marks and now was accompanied by a red circle around the bruise about the size of a dime. Then the redness covered about the size of a quarter and then the size of a half dollar. Now we realize that obviously were looking at a bite mark of some kind.

My worst fear ( because they are in our area, and we have seen a few before) was that he was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider. http://www.your-inner-voice.com/brownreclusespider.html
If you are squeemish please do not click on this link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It not only shows you what the spider looks like, but it shows what the venom is capable of doing.

I myself have been bitten before but luckily I was spared some of the horrific effects the venom can cause. His bite certainly looked like some of the bites I have seen on the Internet. So Sunday we call his Pediatrician and get an appointment to have him looked at. His Doctor thankfully did not think it was a Brown Recluse bite because he said usually within 12 to 24 hours the wound is already starting to show signs of flesh being destroyed. He said he was obviously bitten by something but theres no telling what. He was concerned the bite was turning into a staff infection so we were given some good antibiotics and sent on our way with the hopes that everything would be ok.

Tonight there is still a large red inflamed area around the bite mark ( about the size of a child's hand) but it seems to be better than yesterday and not so inflamed looking. Hopefully he will continue to get better!!

AND.... his seizures have gotten a little worse again too. Not sure if its because his body is fighting off this infection or what but we are not seeing the one to two day seizure free spells anymore. His clusters of spasms over the last few days have once again increased in numbers and intensity a little. UGGG!

But on the bright side, despite the seizures, over the past couple of days his talking skills have taken off again. He is saying all kinds of new stuff just right out of the clear blue. God always finds a way to show us how amazing he is. Its during the harder times that his hand in this becomes even more prominant to us.

This week is a busy one. Ashlyn and Katelin are here for the week ( Oh how I love it when we are all together!!) and on Wednesday we will be travelling to Vanderbilt because Katelin is getting an insulin pump. HOORAY!!!! I am so happy for her and this opportunity she has to better manage her insulin without having to get multiple shots a day. She is such an awesome kid!!

So were still moving right along ( at warp speed it seems most of the time.) With Seizures, Diabetes, and wicked spider bites going on, hopefully the rest of the week will be smooth sailing.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers in these areas.

Love to all

Jeff and Allison

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From the Wade family to each and every one of you...

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!

Another long overdue update

Things around here have been pretty uneventful and that's just the way we like it. We have been busy with the typical holiday stuff. Working, trying to figure out what to get the kids for Christmas. Oh and just recently ( last night) found the time to do some decorating around the house. I have been meaning to sit down here and write out something but just haven't had had anything much to say. Is there such a thing as bloggers block??

Dawson is doing really good. Seizure patterns are kinda weird the past couple of weeks. He was going a couple of days seizure free and then he'd have some in the middle of the night. We are still getting a day or two of seizure freedom here and there and as of a couple of days ago the only seizures he was having was upon waking in the middle of the night. Just in the past couple of days hes had a couple at odd times. Do you have any idea how bad I hate seizures?? Of course you do.. Allison and I are busy racking our brains trying to figure out something as to whats causing him to go days with none and why in the middle of the night hes having some but none after daytime naps???

The only thing we have been able to figure out is that we have No clue about the rhyme and reason of seizure activity!!

Dawson's mood has been all over the place. He had a run of about three days last week where he was just awful. Nothing would make him happy, temper tantrums, fits of throwing things, non stop crying and stuff like that. Just the other day he had a complete meltdown. I mean a true meltdown!!

After about 45 minutes we finally figured out what was bothering him so badly. Wanna know what it was?????

His Pacifier had a hole in it and it just wasn't sucking the way he wanted it to.. That's all it took to send him completely over the deep end.. Honestly we think he was more frustrated that he couldn't tell us what was bothering him so badly. And here we are trying to shove the stupid thing in his mouth to sooth him.... Go figure. We even took him to the Doctor just to make sure there was nothing physically wrong, such as an ear infection, that was putting him in this foul mood. And then all this leads to the same ole questions we've had for a while. Is it two year old tantrum stuff??? Is it seizure related?? Is it med related?? Is it possible abnormality of the right frontal lobe related??? Who knows.. We really really hope that whatever this is passes because it when he acts like hes been acting ,it really raises the stress level in the house..

The past couple of days have been much better for the most part but I understand Grampy had a pretty rough day with him today and tonight has been no picnic either.

So, seizures are still very much improved and we are so thankful for that.

Mood........... yeah well one out of two ain't bad I guess.

OH and check out this new fun thing Dawson is doing. I almost forgot to mention it... He is now started to refuse his seizure meds and B6 that he takes with his Keppra. What a fun little game that has turned out to be. Were running out of ways to trick him into taking it.

Please continue to pray for him. and for us :)

We love u all

Jeff and Allison

Super Human Strength

when your in prison, kisses from Madison makes things better.

Is it possible that a two year old can be THAT strong??

Heres the thing. Dawson,this weekend, has had a pretty bad diaper rash. So when changing his diaper, it takes TWO grown adults to pull off a diaper change. And even with that, its a struggle!! Its amazing how strong a two year old can be isn't it??

Maybe I'm just getting weaker in my old age.

Dawson is doing really good. We are still seeing two to three day seizure free periods and the clusters hes having are much much milder. We seem to be heading in a good direction.

Coincidentally ( thank goodness for spell check on this thing) over the past couple of weeks I have noticed some big changes in Dawson. He has always been very mobile. He hit normal milestones with rolling, sitting up, crawling and then walking. But over the past couple of weeks, I can tell a huge difference in his mobility. He's running, and I'm not talking that toddler straight leg-ged running, but knees bending kind of FAST running. ( bad news for Madison!!)

Hes walking backwards very easily, he spins in circles, hes able to negotiate steps unassisted, and last night he was jumping off this ledge ( about a foot high), and hitting the ground running.

Shame on me for not bringing this kind of stuff up. We have always celebrated victories like this because as most of you already know, when you have this type of seizure disorder, this kind of stuff is HUGE.

His speech is really improving now as well. Last night, somebody said " Thank You" and to which Dawson easily replied " Welcome" and he understands EVERYTHING you say to him. Its so awesome to watch him really " get it"

God finds a way, on a regular basis, to remind us what a miracle Dawson is. We continue to find that there is peace and grace and celebration on the other side of every fiery battle we face. I am SO glad we are on his team!!

Speaking of team....... ROLL TIDE ( sorry, had to get that out there)

Pictures are of some random things. ( Our fun little 192 hour VEEG we had, and some Thanksgiving family time)

God bless and we love u all

Jeff and Allison

Happy Birthday

Today, the littlest of my angels turned 5. It seems as though that should not be possible that she is 5 years old already. I guess the time has gone so fast because the past couple of years
( even though we purposely try not to let this happen) her little world has been overshadowed by seizures and diabetes. But this little girl is so special. If you were to spend only a few moments with Madison you would automatically be in love. There is no way you could stop yourself. This little child, without doubt, holds my heart in her hands.

So Happy Birthday to the smartest, wittiest, happiest, funniest,and most special 5 year old I have ever known!! I could never express with words how proud of her I am.

BTW...... Just a little side note on Mr. Dawson........

Today is Day 3 with no seizures!!

Our love to all

Jeff and Allison