Spooktacular Halloween

Its not that we didnt try to take 1000 pictures of Dawson for Halloween.. He just wouldn't sit or stand still long enough to get a decent picture of him... Hence the picture in the car seat.... What a little turkey!!

This Halloween was pretty special.. This was the first year we've taken Dawson trick or treating. In the past hes either been too little, too many seizures, too temperamental. We were too worried about him having a come apart and ruining the Halloween experience for Madion... Not this year though..

The neighborhood my parents live in is considered Halloween Central.. Its the most amazing thing.. Its a giant neighborhood where most everybody participates in the festivities. People literally drive from all over to come to this neighborhood to trick or treat.. Hundreds of people line the streets, going house to house gathering candy.. It it certainly quite the sight!

This year, Dawson came with us. and he had a blast!! Ashlyn kept pretty close to his side the entire time and Allison and my heart were warmed at the sight of our littlest hero going from house to house, carrying his little pumpkin, SAYING TRICK OR TREAT... It was just so normal.. No seizures, no fussing, no behavior problems.. Just a little three year old skeleton, out and about, enjoying something he had never seen before... He really had fun.

At one point, Allison and I looked at each other while the kids ran to one house and said.. " This is VERY cool!!"

Hes doing all the things, that at one time we were afraid he would never be able to do.. He's running, hes playing, hes talking, and now hes trick or treating!!


Glory to God for his mercy, peace, and healing.

Thank you for your continued prayers. We go to Huntsville this week for an EEG... Everybody is dying to know what his EEG looks like since his seizures have stopped.

Jeff

A picture is worth a thousand words

Not much to say here, The pictures say it all. Today is day 31 with no seizures and you can see the happiness and clarity in his eyes. Allison was out in the yard Saturday with the kids, and these pictures are just a snippet of what she was able to capture. Dawson is just a completely different kid right now and we are celebrating daily!!! He is just so HAPPY!! ( and so are we)

Hope you enjoy

Jeff

Home from Memphis ( What a LONG day)

First of all the video.. This video was shot shortly after registration. Dawson was running up and down the hall and seemed to be pretty excited about all the animals on the wall. If you listen closely, there is a couple of times he snorts after touching the pig. Way to funny!! The pics are of him waking up from anesthesia. He was pretty drunk for a few minutes which I thought was hilarious!!.

We got up this morning at 4:00 am and left the house by 4:30 to make the 3 hour drive to Memphis. Checked in on time and the rest of the morning pretty much went like clockwork. They went ahead and got the IV in first thing and the girl who did it was pretty amazing. One stick and we were done. From there it was from one waiting are to another and they kept on schedule to the minute. His MRI was supposed to start at 12:00 and they were even a couple of minutes early. Pretty amazing. The MRI itself lasted about two hours which is about an hour longer that what it usually takes him. They were looking at VERY thin slices and also did a functional MRI while he was asleep too. Dawson did great throughout the procedure and we were in the recovery room with him for like maybe 5 minutes. Yep, 5 minutes and he was awake enough to go home.

Another 3 hour drive home and here we are..WHEW!! very long day indeed.

Thanks for all of you who prayed for a smooth trip and smooth MRI.

Unfortunately, we will not get the results of everything we had done today until about 3 days out from surgery. We are still full speed ahead. We will have another EEG in Huntsville in November and that will give us a better picture of whats going on during this seizure free streak were on ( DAY 26!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!) Until then, we will count and enjoy every single seizure free day we get!!

Our love to all of you

Jeff

So yeah, its kind of a one sided pillow fight, but it goes to show how well he and Madison play together now that the seizure monster sleeps. They spend pretty much every evening now doing this and chasing each other through the house. This is a whole lot more fun than counting seizures!!

Needless to say, he continues to do really well right now. I am SO happy for this special little guy!! and shame on me because I haven't even mentioned how well he is doing in school. Right now he is going 3 days a week for an hour and a half. He is getting Speech and Occupational therapy and his teachers say he is doing REALLY well. There was talk a few weeks ago about maybe doing physical therapy, but as you can see, his gross motor skills are exactly where they should be for a 3 year old. So even though he is a special needs child, he sure is teaching us a lot!!

Please remember him Friday as we go to Memphis for this MRI. We tried to set up a consult with the Neuro there but he will be out of town. Allison and I have TONS of questions right now regarding the upcoming brain surgery.

We are in the process of putting together a spaghetti supper/silent auction. All proceeds will go towards him having brain surgery and medically related expenses. We are shooting for a date towards the end of November. ( hope to have a concrete date by tomorrow) If your reading this and live in our area, we are looking for volunteers to help with this event. If interested please let me know. You can leave a comment here or on my FB page if you are able to help out. ( Many hands make light work!!!)

Thanks again to all of you who continue to pray for him. Thats the greatest thing you can do.

Our love to all of you.

Jeff

On a roll now

Today is day 24 with no seizures!! Needless to say, we are pretty ecstatic around here. We've been so used to counting seizures on a daily basis that were just not sure what to do with ourselves. You can just tell its making the biggest difference in the world in Dawson. He is talking more and more now, he is communicating leaps and bounds, new words are coming left and right, he is coming and taking us by the hand and saying " GO" and then he will lead us by hand to where he is wanting us to go.

Usually this is to the kitchen where he has spied something he wants to eat. Life without seizures right now is a dream!! I just don't know what else I can say about it.

We are still on go with brain surgery in December. We will stay in this mode until his doctors say otherwise. God has placed us in the hands of some of the most amazing neurologists for a very specific reason, and we will follow their lead regarding his treatment. With that being said, please remember him in prayer as we go back to Memphis Friday for yet another MRI that will better point out this area that his seizures are originating from. The MRI itself is not such a big deal but having him put to sleep is always a little rough on us HA!!

We did talk to his neurologist in Huntsville today and they want us to have another EEG done in November to see what is actually going on in there seizure wise since they have stopped. Were hoping for some really good news... ( like a normal EEG)

Until then we are just enjoying watching Dawson.... well.... just be Dawson.

Promise to put up some pics and videos very very soon!!

Our love to all of you

Jeff

Resting

Still hanging out, all seizure free like...

And enjoying every moment!!

Next week we go back to Memphis for yet another MRI.. More IV pokes, being put to sleep again... YUK. But all of it necessary as we move forward and closer to brain surgery.

Dawson continues to do fantastic right now.. so nice to see his little brain on the move again!! Our love to all

Jeff

The seizure monster sleeps

Things are still eerily quiet around here. No seizures, no outburst, no Madison screaming because Dawson is attacking her, Nothing being broke in an aggressive rage. Instead, it has been replaced with laughter, playing, running and chasing, throwing golf balls in the house, using the oven door as a trampoline,and lots of other fun stuff..

Very quiet around here, and of course we are just loving it. The biggest change has been his behavior. No seizures= happy little boy. The second biggest change has been in his communication skills. Its just been amazing.

Soooo, while the seizure monster sleeps in his brain.. We continue to celebrate, and we work very diligently on trying to gain much needed ground on the developmental front. Because of the daily seizures, he is WAY far behind!!

Thank you Lord for the break, and thanks to each one of you for your prayers.

Jeff

And the streak continues

Today marks 13 days seizure free!! I have to say i am a little disappointed in the lack of enthusiasm shown around this blogger world at this marvelous event. I mean, we've been battling seizures DAILY for what seems like forever and out of the blue they have just stopped.. Not even one single comment??? come on people!!

Nevermind me, we have been celebrating enough around here for all of you. In the past 13 days we have just seen a completely different Dawson.. Today has been another day of Dawson talking all day long.. Not all of it understandable, but he knows what hes saying and were able to understand half of it. Its just amazing what can happen when he is not ravaged by seizures. We can literally see the fog lifting in his brain. We get to see the real Dawson.

As a matter of fact, he seems rather " normal." Whatever that is... All I know it that none of us have seen any seizure activity for 13 days. And we are greatful for each and every one of those days.

Ive been around this block enough times to know that this could all end tomorrow. It could end tonight as a matter of fact. I can't even begin to tell you how overjoyed we are right now, and we are trying to soak up every sweet little minute if it.

So, I will say it for you... Congratulations little buddy!! This is your time, Enjoy it!!

Much love to all of you

Jeff

Happy days are here again

What a great weekend!! and what a great day today too!!

Today marks day 10 with no seizures!! can you believe it?? and what a difference it has made. Dawson is a completely different kid with no seizures. I need to make a correction to my last post.. I had stated that we were going back to the original dose of Zonegran because we weren't liking what it was doing to him. We stayed at the same dose, just started giving it to him all at one time instead of am/pm..

So this small increase seems to be really helping all things seizure related and giving it to him all at once has helped a lot with the mood/violence/aggression/behavior stuff.

In the last 10 days we are seeing the REAL Dawson come out again. Oh my how we have missed him. He is playful and funny and over the last couple of days extremely verbal again. He has talked non stop today. Tonight I was trying to get a picture of him with my phone and he saw himself on the screen, pointed to it and said " Dawson." We have been trying forever to get him to recognize himself and this week he has done it twice. He usually just pats himself and says " baby"

We are just ecstatic to have this time with him with no seizures. We have been fighting seizures DAILY for so long and we are truly thankful to God for this. He is just so..... HAPPY and who can blame him!!

So here's to another day of seizure freedom, and prayers that tomorrow will be seizure free as well

Jeff