This coming Sunday marks one year of seizure freedom for Dawson.. ( It also happens to be mine and my beautiful wife's anniversary) What a great day Sunday is going to be right??!
As I think back a year ago today and where we were.. then compare it to how things are one year later.. It is literally overwhelming to think about the difference. Its like night and day!! Just a year ago today we were preparing for a trip to Memphis to see a Pedi Neuro that our current neuro had recommended we see. As good and wonderful as our current neuro is, at that time she was out of answers and wanted to get a second set of eyes to see if she missed anything. We tried almost all of the meds in all sorts of weird combinations and nothing was helping.
It was in Memphis that a malformation in his brain was located, and this coming weekend a year ago we would hear the words brain surgery for the first time. They wanted to remove his right frontal lobe in hopes of slaying the seizure monster. The way we ended up in Memphis was one of those God things. He very specifically took us there in ways that even a non believer would have to admit seems just a little to much of a coincidence not to have the hand of God in it. It was just that obvious. I vividly remember being in that hospital room watching the EEG of a seizure ridden kid. The same EEG that I had seen many many times before. It was an absolute mess. I remember saying to god.. " OK... you brought us here... now what??" We thought at the time that brain surgery was the reason he took us there.. Finding that abnormality and removing it would fix Dawson. It was very hard for us to make that decision to have that kind of surgery done. Especially since it came with no guarantees!! In the end, what i now know was that he wanted us to trust HIM.. not the diagnosis, not the surgery, not the doctors, not ourselves.. but HIM.. And when that commitment was made, a commitment to fully trust..... Well that's the exact moment he had his last seizure.....
Seems as though i short changed God a little bit. See, I thought he wanted to heal Dawson through the removal of part of his brain. God had something much much bigger in mind!!!!
So now as I look back at where we were a year ago, and I see the differences in him... I stand in awe and amazement.
One year ago we were dealing with a seizure ridden three year old. A kid whom we couldn't even take out in to public because of severe behavior problems. He was filled with rage, aggression, and anger. His seizures at the time were knocking him off his feet and as I had already mentioned, his EEG was just a mess. Constant seizure activity..
He could talk but only one word at a time and his vocabulary was very limited to just basic needs. He had pretty much zero social skills and would cling to your leg pretty much anywhere outside of the home. Although he liked music, he didn't sing songs, he was at a developmental standstill and making no progress in any of the areas he was behind in. There was very little joy in our lives as we watched Dawson suffer daily from the effects of seizures.
BUT NOW????? WOW!!!
The biggest change is that Dawson is HAPPY!!! I mean, this kid is truly truly happy. He is constantly smiling now!!
Not only does he enjoy music.. but he sings the songs.. i don't mean just parts of the song, but the whole song. Not only does he talk, but he speaks enough where you can have a conversation with him. He asks and answers questions, asks for help when he needs it and says some of the funniest things. For example......Just this week, Dawson was in his room laying down getting ready for bed in his own room. I had asked him earlier if he was going to sleep in his bed ( yeah right!!) and he responded with
" yes dad".. Moments later as me and Allison were laying in our bed he came into our room and Allison asks him if he is going to sleep in his bed and he responds with... " No..... DUH.. I'm going to sleep right here" and points to his usual spot right between me and Allison.
He plays make believe games... His favorite is pretending he is a restaurant worker and he comes to all of us and he will ask
" Hamburgers or chicken nuggets?" and off he goes to prepare the food and bring it back to you. He is able to use his imagination to have fun.. A year ago his imagination was non existent.
He loves to sit and watch movies. His favorite movie right now is " Despicable Me" and when he watches it he quotes about 80% of the movie line for line and word for word. It makes a funny movie even more funny!!
He is very social now. He is actively involved in our church's children's dept and also has started a head start preschool program that he goes to five days a week. His teacher says he is learning in leaps and bounds and has fun playing with the rest of the kids in his classroom. He is even learning to write his name.
He is about 90% potty trained in going #1. We don't even have to ask him to go anymore.. he just says he has to go and takes off to the bathroom. For some reason he still feels the need to ask " flush it??" when hes done as though the answer might just change on of these days??
Yes, our lives are much different a year later. Its just amazing what a year with no seizures can do. His brain is not only seizure free, but its a sponge now. Soaking in everything it possibly can. Yes indeed, God had bigger plans for Dawson. We couldn't imagine a year ago that today our lives would be like this.... But we are certainly thankful!!!!
Please join in with us this coming Sunday September 25 as we celebrate a true victory. A slain seizure monster and a happy little boy who fought with such vigor and tenacity. Heres to many many more seizure free years little buddy!!
Jeff
