Note to self

I will know next time not to let Evan go to bed at 6:30. He came to my room around 2:15 a.m. and said there was a lizard in his bed. He was shaking, obviously scared. I had stayed up late reading. I was exhausted so I scooped him up and put him in our bed. That would not be the end of it. He wanted to play 20 questions. "Do lizards bite?" "I saw yellow and red on him, could he kill me?" I told him I was pretty sure it was only red/yellow snakes that kill a fellow and he would be fine especially since he didn't bite him. His eyes were wide open. He was being sweet and tried to get back to sleep. Lindsay had a bad dream and joined us around 4:00. The bed was a bit too crowded for my likeing so I moved the kids to a mat on the floor and a bench at the end of our bed. We were all sound asleep again by 5:30. The only person who was happy to get up this morning was Mark. The rest of us were exhausted.

Evan continues to do well. I've decided as long as he stays well fed and well rested, he is fine. Thus, today he has been a bit on the fussy side. Tomorrow will be a better day!

Update on Evan

Evan is doing much better. His new medicine no longer makes him nauseated for the most part. He is generally back to his normal happy self. He is full of good things to say and gives his sweet compliments just as freely as he used to. After a yummy dinner at Rudy's, Evan fell asleep in the car (by 6:30). We woke him up long enough to take his pills then put him to bed for the night.

We trust that God will continue to heal Evan. The road ahead is possibly complicated and long but we know we won't be alone. We have certainly been changed by this experience. We have become closer as a family. We have felt the love of friends and family. We see more clearly our daily dependence on God. We earnestly seek fellowship with Him daily--all day long. My prayer is that I will remember how precious and fragile life is.

Anyone seen this pair?

Missing husband. Found this picture hidden in his dresser. Anyone seen them? Please call if you know their whereabouts!!!!
Wife and children are sad and lonely! Reward for safe return.

BlondeStar

You've all heard of OnStar, but what about BlondeStar?

From MuzikDude's blog.

Strawberry Shortcake

Lindsay's 4th birthday is quickly approaching. I usually spend MONTHS planning birthday parties but as you know, I've been alittle busy lately. Lindsay decided she wanted a princess party then a My LIttle Pony party then a Barbie party then back to a princess party.... and so on and so on. Today, I made her decide for sure. She decided on Strawberry Shortcake. I'm new to this character party thing. With the boys we did army parties, space parties, cowboy parties but never just one character. Lindsay is all about coordinating the napkins, balloons, her clothes and every other little detail to a character.

I remember Strawberry Shortcake from the 70's-80's. She's cooler now. She still wears a gigantic dumb hat but she is much more fashionable. I was telling Lindsay that I had a hamster when I was 8 named Strawberry Shortcake. I should have known what her next question would be. "Where is the hamster now, mommy?" Should I tell her that we went on vacation to Colorado one summer and when I came back the hamster had earned a spot in hamster heaven? Nah. I decided to tell her that I don't know exactly where that hamster is now. And that does happen to be the truth. And she seemed content with that answer.

I am now in search of any Strawberry Shortcake information, paraphenalia, costumes etc. I've got to put a party together speedy quick. There may not be homemade invitations this year. Mark always makes fun of me anyway because I like the information on the invitation to rhyme. I've already been thinking about what rhymes with four. (Door, store, velour, senor, decor, camphor, detour..I've got to stop) Maybe we'll stick some candles in some pasta (Lindsay's favorite food) and call it a party. Who knows. If anyone reading this knows anything about SS, please fill me in. Meanwhile, I'm off to BlockBuster to rent a few Shortcake videos.

Got good insurance?

Last night the boys were fighting. When I went to investigate, I found Evan on top of Drew and they were shouting at each other very loudly. I asked what the problem was and what I heard sort of surprised me. Evan said, " Progressive is best!" Drew demanded "No, everyone knows that State Farm is best. To that I asked, "What exactly do you have to insure at a ripe old age of 8 and 6?" "Nothing, I guess, but State Farm is better insurance than Progressive. Everyone knows that!" We talked about how crazy the arguement was and they went their separate ways...but not before Evan got the last word. "Well, I think Geico is actually best!" Who knew that kids actually worried about insurance!?!

Pictures!!!

Tonight I got my lesson on including pictures in our blog. Looks easy when Mark does it. Setting the VCR should be easy too but I never can figure that thing out. Maybe it's because we have 429 remote controls for the TV, VCR, DVD player and tuner. My mom can't get the TV to work when she is here. It must be in the genes. We included a random picture just to see if I could do it. Notice Evan's bushy hair (and that was over a month ago). He wanted to grow his own shade. I think he's accomplished his goal!

Speaking of Evan, he had a good afternoon but by the time Mark left for BSF, he began to revert back to his weird behavior. We had a rough night. Taking his pills was a huge challenge and I have to take his word that he took the new one. I didn't actually see it go down. I'm sure we will know by the morning if he took it.

I spoke with Dr.R this evening. He thinks the tummy problems will go away soon. We will give it until Thursday then he will prescribe something for the nausea. Until then, we hope that Evan can make it through the school day.

Challenged

I've added a new link in the "other blogs" section. It's Tim Hartland's blog. Don't go there if you're looking for any of the fluff or puff you find here or on any of those other blogs, though. He really challenged me.

And to think I taught him Sunday School for a short while a few years back. I think he should have been teaching the class...

Nausea Maximus

Once again, Evan was up early because of his tummy. He REALLY did not want to go to school but he did. He took his medicine fine this morning (an answered prayer) but hardly ate any of his french toast. I felt so bad sending him off when he obviously felt so bad. Around 11:20, I got a call to pick Evan up from school. I talked to Dr.R's nurse at 8:00 but haven't back from the doctor. I really wish this process was quicker. There are too many unknowns in Evan's future for my sanity. I know God wants me to lean on Him and trust that He has a great plan for Evan. I am working on letting go. Mark has reminded me many times that we are Evan's caretakers but God is his Father and loves him even more than we do. Hard to believe but true!

It's not often that I think about how Mary must have felt when Jesus was treated unjustly or to see Jesus hang on a cross for an offense He didn't commit. I am sure she just wanted to cry out for them to leave him alone. She knew of His goodness. She knew He didn't deserve it but God allowed it to happen. I am not comparing our situation to that but I do have to remember that other parents have had to see their children suffer. It happens everyday all over the world. Isn't God good to give us this example in Jesus. Ultimately, God had a perfect plan in the suffering of Jesus and I know He has one for Evan as well.

walking the line

We know things are getting better but tonight Evan slipped back into the his "angry boy" role for a short while. I saw several of the absence seizures tonight as Evan was eating dinner. Evan also had a lot of seizure activity during mealtimes at the hospital. At least I know it's not my cooking causing the seizures! I feel so bad for Evan because he has thrown up every day since starting this new medicine at full strength. He reminds me of a woman with morning sickness--moaning, weak, walking around slowly. He had a good day but by 6:00 all he wanted to do was cuddle up with a warm blanket on the couch. He didn't want to go too far from his "bucket." He's worried that he is going to throw up in Sunday School or church tomorrow. Please pray that his body will adjust to the medicine soon and the seizures will go away! I am so encouraged by all of you who are out there praying! Evan asked tonight if "everybody" knows he is sick. What he was really asking was if any body cared that he was sick. When I started naming people who have told me they were praying for him, he smiled and was able to go to sleep.

Progress....

Evan has continued to act like a normal kid. It has been fun to be with him again. Hopefully the medicine is doing it's job and we're on the road to improvement. It seems to be upsetting his stomach more, so that's our big prayer now.

As you've already read, he came home from school after throwing up Thursday. His stomach continued to feel bad Friday, but he made it through school. We went swimming at the Baylor SLC pool last night. Fun-loving (but not always thinking) Dad decided to throw him around. This was probably not the best idea. Actually, I guess it wasn't a good idea at all. Let's just say that after one amibitious toss, the lifeguards had to clear everyone out of the pool and disinfect part of the pool. And it wasn't a coincidence that Evan had just been in that spot.

He's been good today, though. His stomach has bothered him some, but it hasn't been too bad. We played at Poage Park and then went to the Mayborn Museum. The boys complained about going, but once we got there they had a great time. Evan just woke up from about a 2.5 hour nap, so hopefully that will help him a bunch too.

It's nice to know that things are improving, though!

Hallelujah!

Almost as if Evan's throw up purged him of the evil within his body, we had a great evening. Maybe it was an exorcism.

I had actually forgotten what it was like to put all the kids down in a nice, peaceful manner. Evan couldn't stop telling Regina and me that he loved us. He kissed the scratch on my forehead from one of his previous fits. Before, seeing that scratch would make him laugh.

At dinner he said his stomach hurt a little bit, so continue to pray that the medicine will not upset his stomach. Hopefully, he will get used to it. Also, pray that this was not a fluke and that we have turned a major corner and are now on the road to recovery.

And notice the time of this post. Yes, they were all in bed by 8:20!

Early Release

I got a call from the school nurse at 1:30. Evan had thrown up. This new medicine is not settling well with Evan. The nurse thought he may have had a seizure but didn't know for sure. Lindsay and I picked Evan up. He looked so sad. He says he feels weak and tired. He is currently very pleasant and displaying impeccable manners. He says he is going to try his hardest to be good and he knows that God has a plan for him.

A little background for some of you who are just getting to know us: Evan has always been our most polite and kind hearted child. He's the kid who will crawl up in your lap, let you know how much he loves you and how special you are. Evan accepted Christ into his heart at the ripe old age of FOUR. Mark and I thought he was too young but let me tell you, this kid knew what he was doing. He loves God and loves to pray. He is our designated family pray-er. If we have a specific prayer need, we always go to him. His phone line with God seems to be static free. He has felt a tug at his heart to be a part of missions in Africa. For a while all he wanted to eat was rice ("so he could be like them"). He would wear his African wrap and hat and even learned some Swahili from our adopted college daughter. The more I think about this, I wonder if we are going through this difficult time because Evan is such a threat to Satan (even at six years old). Is this a spiritual war we are fighting? Isn't it always?
I can't wait to see what God has in store for Evan's future! It's our turn to return the favor to Evan. We are praying him through!

Cliff & B-Hood

So I saw Cliff's comment on the Bowden Blog about how nobody links to him. I started feeling sorry for him, and then after reading his Rice Krispies post, and laughing out loud here in my cubicle, I decided he was worthy of a link. Careful, though, he seems to have an unhealthy obsession with Steve.

And since B-Hood is apparently fair game now, I've added her, too.

update

Dr.R called tonight. He said he was worried about ME. Last time I talked to him, I was very disheartened about the possibility that Evan could have a degenerative neurological disorder based on the fact that his EEG continues to be more abnormal than before. Evan has been on the doctors mind a lot lately as well. He has shared Evan's test results with his collegues in search of help. As I was telling the doctor that Evan was having a better day, Evan began spiraling out of control. He didn't want to eat dinner, take his medicine, clean up or get ready for bed. He was name calling (my favorite one so far is "you are such an Israelite!") and hitting. Mark struggled with him all evening until he finally gave out around 8:45. We skipped church activities tonight hoping to put everyone to bed early and catch up on some much needed rest. I was being too optimistic I guess.

To shave or not to shave...that is the question!

Okay, I realize the subject matter on our blog has been rather heavy lately so I thought I would lighten it up a bit. I am taking a survey. How many men refrain from shaving when on vacation? For the last several years, Mark has not shaved on vacation. I feel like I am on vacation with another man. It really doesn't bother me but I wonder if he would mind if I didn't shave my legs on a 11 day vacation to the beach. Just curious.

The Chase

Have you ever been watching a movie and there's a chase scene where someone is on foot, being chased by a car and they run in a straight line, as if they can outrun the car that is speeding up to 70 mph. And it makes you angry because you think to yourself (or perhaps you can't contain yourself and you say out loud), "You idiot. TURN!!!" because you know that the car will not be able to turn as quickly as the person. Doesn't that just drive you crazy?

Or maybe it's just me.

Well, I have found out that these actors (or more accurately, the screenwriters) are no more intelligent than squirrels. At least once during the last 3 times I have run at Cameron Park, the squirrels, who apparently have heard about my history with critters, have run for their lives at the sight of the toned physical specimen that is me.

They sit in the middle of one of the many Cameron Park trails, collecting nuts or scratching same or doing whatever it is that squirrels do to fill their time. Then they catch sight of me. And instead of quickly seeking shelter in the brush, they run away from me down the trail, the fear of death ever-present in their minds, clouding their judgment. Then, at the last possible moment, they head into the brush hoping that I have pity on them and don't come looking for dinner. But I smell the fear and cackle as I pass their hiding spot, a warning to them they are not safe because I will return.

Or maybe they are mocking me because they know I'm slow as molasses and they could outrun me even if they had an opossum tied to their back. Besides, they know I wouldn't hurt an opossum.

A move in the right direction

Evan had a fairly good day. He went to the school nurse and rested a while in his classroom. He had a stomach ache and was nauseated which are symptoms of his new med. He perked up and finished the day just fine. He was upset because I picked him up after school rather than letting him stay while Drew had math class with Harry from Waco High. He was able to control his disappointment and move on. By the way, Drew LOVES Harry and the cool math lessons. Harry really makes math fun.

We were all able to sit down and eat dinner together as a family. Just like old times. Everyone ate and participated in the conversation. As Mark and Drew ran an errand, I read to Evan and Lindsay. Evan read a book to us. His reading has really improved. He read a 3.3 AR book with no problems at all. Then we did math homework. Of course, this is his thing. Yet, he never ceases to amaze me with his understanding of advanced math concepts.

I have looked at some information about functions of the right and left brain. Left functions include language, math and logic while the right brain controls emotion, facial gestures, imagination, creativity as well as recognizing faces, places and objects. The changes we have seen in Evan are certainly consistent with right brain changes. Evan was unable to remember us Sunday night for just a few minutes. That was very scary.

Today, Evan began taking a full dose of his new medicine.
Please pray he does not get nauseated or show any side effects from the drug.
Pray that this medicine stops the spike and wave seizures and corrects the slowing of the right side of his brain.
Pray that we will see improvements each day until Evan is completely healed!

Mark says no one will read it if it is too long but we want to get this information to our family. We don't get to talk to them often to keep them all up to date. Sorry! I'll try to keep it shorter next time!

EEG

It occurred to me today that there's all this talk about seizures, but many of you may not really know what's going on. I found some EEG's online so that people could see what's going on.

In the EEG below, the parts on the edges are normal behavior. The part in the middle is during an "absence" (pronounced a fancy french way, but if you say it the old-fashioned American way, it fairly accurately describes it) seizure. Each horizontal line represents a different part of the brain- all the points where the electrodes are stuck on his head.



The part where it increases is generally referred to as "spike-and-wave." Pretty descriptive, huh? Evan's seem to be higher spikes and also closer together, though these differences may have just been a result of the machinery having different settings. This is what Evan has going on about 6-15 times an hour. They last only a few seconds, but frustrating nonetheless.

One other thing Dr. R was a little concerned about was that the EEG on the right side had a slightly different shape than the left. We're hoping that the medication will address that, in addition to the absence seizures.

Here's another site with a picture of an EEG that also describes pretty accurately the symptoms we have been seeing in Evan. As we've said, the major seizures (which are/were complex partial seizures) are at least better under control, it's these shorter, absence ones that we're trying to knock out, along with any of the remaining long ones.

If you have Java enabled, this EEG is zoomable. Pretty cool. If not, it's still a good picture.

I'd be curious to see what his EEG would look like during one of my involuntary wrestling matches.

A little better...

No major outbursts from Evan until bedtime, which is an improvement. By then, I had to wrestle with him for the usual hour before he fell asleep, but it's a step in the right direction. Perhaps the secondary medication is starting to work. He took it this morning, so by tonight the level would have dropped and perhaps that started it. If that's the case, we should notice more improvement each day as the level becomes more consistent.

Downward spiral

The goodness is gone and the bad is back. Evan started with his mean words and punches right before dinner. He refused to eat with us. Drew couldn't take it and ate outside on the deck with Sadie. Mark held Evan while Lindsay and I ate then I held Evan while Mark ate. How frustrating! He was proud that he had ruined our dinner. He was great after school, so pleasant. He said that he had a great day. Once the mean boy came back, he said "I was terrible at school today." When we asked what he meant, he said he had a great time interrupting his Baylor teacher. Once again, I am discouraged but remain hopeful that God is at work!

Great day--so far!

Just a quick update. I just picked Evan us from school! He was happy, calm and sweet! Praise the Lord! He told me he was going to be "the good Evan" from now on. I pray he is right. I believe that God CAN and WILL completely heal him. Thank you for all your prayers. Boy, do we feel them. Please continue to pray as we work through this. Those of you who have asked for something specific to pray for, here it goes:
pray for:
-complete healing of Evan's brain
-ALL the behavioral problems resulting from the seizures and medication will dissipate
-we will get our sweet Evan back
-Lindsay and Drew as they witness these terrible fits and are often neglected when this happens
-wisdom for Mark and me in dealing with this illness

Thank you SO much.

On a completely unrelated topic...

This is a good column on how the press is completely missing the point on the federal response to Katrina. Disaster relief begins locally.

More of the same---and worse!

Just a quick note. Evan has had many more outbursts today. While he used to only have them only at home, he is now exposing the world to them. He has been saying some crazy things. He's been so angry, hitting and trying to hurt our feelings. He says we aren't his parents. Tonight, he had an episode where he couldn't remember our names,our dog or our address and phone number (which he's known since he was 3). This is so scary!

Please keep on praying. I am so grateful our church is beginning 40 days of prayer together. Our family has really been on our knees together. Drew is having a hard time understanding why "God would do this to us." He is really struggling. Please remember him in your prayers as well.

Mom's perspective

Evan and I had a great trip to Dallas. I was worried that he might start acting "weird" and I would have to deal with that while trying to get to a hospital I had never been to via Central Expressway. He was so fun to be with. We really had a good time. He didn't even want to watch a movie in the car!
The worst part of the admission was getting the 20+ probes glued onto his rather shaggy do. Also the glue was very smelly. Those who know Evan, know that he has a VERY sensitive nose. We had to alert the staff every time he wanted to move so the cameras could be adjusted. He was wonderful the entire time we were there. He was so proud of the banner that Lindsay made him to hang on his wall. He talked to her on the phone and told her how much he loved it (and her). He congratulated me on a job well done getting us safely to Dallas. He read several books and did ten days of math homework. The night nurse quizzed him on the times tables and was quite impressed that he knew 12 X 12 and that 144 is a gross. He had these nurses wrapped around his finger. He watched 5 movies and ate way too much food. He was jolly and kind. He was an angel. He only had good and complimentary things to say about everyone and everything around him. He had blood work done this morning and didn't even flinch. He swallowed his meds without any difficulty. He was a super patient.

The whole reason I thought we needed an EEG was to investigate his unusual behavior and as I see it, we still didn't have any answers. We still didn't see any true (or big) siezures on the EEGs. What we did see was that there was almost constant abnormal brain activity. I think that maybe I would begin acting strange too if my brain was doing what his is doing on a daily basis. BUT, the doctor thought he had seen enough. I hope we did the right thing by not insisting he investigate further. I wonder if we had stayed tonight if we would have seen this behavior and what it would look like on the EEG. I feel like I have more questions now then when I got there. Dr.R. appears to be someone discouraged which of course worries me.
Evan began to act up immediately after we left the hospital. We went out to eat and he was completely out of control. All I could do was cry. I thought we were going to get this problem fixed. I don't see any progess.

I slept for approx. 4 hours last night in a recliner so I should go to bed now. I will write more later.

Hopelessness....... and then Hope

As I sit down to write this, I'm at somewhat of a loss for words. We’re home from the Baylor/Samford game. I spent most of the second half (until we left) wrestling with Evan as he told me I was worthless, as he tried to bite me, as he tried to punch me, and as he tried to scratch “my face off.” Then I wrestled him into the car, into the shower, and finally into bed. I don’t know how much longer I can deal with this. Everyday I think that today is the day we’re going to turn the corner and Evan will start to improve. As I sit here and type, I am once again praying that tomorrow will be that day.

To get everyone caught up…

Evan was a trooper at the hospital. He endured the “glue” to hold the electrodes on his head. He was tethered to monitoring equipment and had to stay in one room, but he didn’t complain. He liked the food and the fact that there was a lot of it. Ice cream was readily available. He impressed all the nurses and technicians with his smarts. They, of course, fell in love with him, as he was being the sweet Evan that we all know and love. While this was all going on, however, he was having multiple “spikes” in his EEG. I don’t know if those are considered “seizures” or not anymore, as they only last 5-10 seconds. I just know they are abnormal and they happen WAY too often. The low was 6 per hour, but it was as high as 15.

Dr. R wanted me to come up to Dallas so he could talk to both Regina and me. So, Meme was nice enough to go up there with Drew, Lindsay, and me so that we could talk while she watched the kids. I had planned on swapping with Regina and staying the night. However, Dr. R said that he had seen enough and staying another night- regardless of what he saw- would not change our course of action. Basically, Dr. R thinks that Evan’s brain can only handle so much of the seizure activity and at some point he starts acting the way he does. So, we need to control the spikes. To try to do this, we are going to add another medication- Zorantin- to the Depakote ER.

I honestly don’t know what to think anymore. As Regina and I talked I thought of several different things. Here they are in some random, non-coherent order-

•The seizures (at least the outwardly evident ones) are better with the Depakote. We have gone longer periods without a major seizure

•We hope that he will outgrow these seizures. If/ when he does, they won’t suddenly stop. They will gradually drop off. So, maybe now we’re in the “buildup” phase. If he weren’t taking Depakote, maybe he would be having 30, 40, 50, or more per hour.

•It’s very frustrating, because it’s such an inexact science. It’s not as simple as antibiotics for an infection. There are multiple types of seizures and multiple ways that people exhibit them and multiple medications to treat them.

•I don’t know if the new medicine is going to work. At this point, I say give me the seizures, I just want my old Evan back.

•Friday night when Evan was being so sweet, Regina asked him why he couldn’t be like that all the time. He said he wasn’t going to act crazy in public. He blew that at lunch today right after we left the hospital and again at the game tonight.

Wow, that was a long post considering it started out saying I was at a loss for words. And it probably didn’t make sense. And doesn’t even scratch the surface of all that’s going through my mind. But it felt good to get it out there.

Pray for healing in Evan’s brain and patience for the whole family as we adjust to Evan’s ever-changing temperament.

edit: I'm sure Regina will add much greater clarity and detail to this later. Also, I hadn't looked at the verse for the day until I posted, but it seems appropriate-

“ I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. ” (Psalm 121:1-2)

My hope also comes from the Lord!!

Confusion... & discouragement

Perhaps it was my misunderstanding...

I thought that with the Depakote ER in Evan's system that we would still exhibit some abnormal activity on the EEG, but that the medicine would "mask" the symptoms so that we wouldn't see seizures. I guess I was wrong, though this seems to be what was happening to some extent.

Dr. R came by the hospial to check on Evan. He didn't like what he saw on the EEG so far. The abnormal activity was pretty constant. He was hoping to see very little, if any. When he is discouraged, it is very discouraging to us. Maybe Evan has all that stuff going on in there and he finally gives out at night and can't handle any more and becomes aggressive and unruly. He hopes to see his aggression, etc. tonight to see what's going on in that brain of his when he's acting out. Dr. R wants me to go up there tomorrow so that he can meet with both Regina and me.

Pray for patience for Evan and peace for Regina. If any of my faithful readers are in Dallas, I'm sure they would love a visit!

Safe - update

Regina and Evan have safely made it to the hospital in Dallas. They are currently getting a tour so she couldn't talk. She was nervous about driving in Dallas and making it to the hospital, so I'm glad she made it safely. I'll update more later.

Edit:
They have now gotten into the room and gotten settled. Evan was glad that he got to order lunch, and apparently he had a bunch of the usual kid things to choose from- burgers, pizza, nuggets, etc. They will, apparently, have to stay in the one room the whole time, so they may go a bit stir crazy. It's a big room, though, with a table to play on and a TV with 100's of movies to choose from.

Regina has a button that she is supposed to push whenever she notices Evan having a seizure. Shortly after getting him hooked up to the electrodes, the nurse came back and wondered why Regina hadn't pushed the button because he had already had a seizure. I guess his medicine had masked it and he didn't show any signs of a seizure.

More to follow, as I learn more...

Bruiser

I looked at the Mascot Challenge more closely and realized that it's a "season" of games, not a one or two week contest. So I've added a links section on the left and have a link to take you to Vote for Bruiser the Baylor Bear. Vote daily. From multiple computers. It's very close.

Has it really come to this?

We have arrived at a point in Evan's treatment that I had really hoped we wouldn't come to. We have been dealing with some serious aggression issues with Evan lately. He has been very disobedient and contradictory and pugnacious. Logic and threats don't work. It just has to run its course. This takes much longer than expected.

I know that many (if not all) of you will not believe this. He seems to be able to control himself when he is with others, but if you’ll have to trust me that he has become unbearable at home. Bedtime has been torture- for all of us.

We think (I guess hope, at this point), that it is a side-effect of his medication. Yes-- the same medicine that we worked so hard to train him to swallow. As a result, Dr. R wants to admit him for an extended EEG (I’m not sure what the official term is) that will last 48-72 hours. He will be admitted to the hospital and will be videoed, in addition to being hooked up to the EEG machine. So, we don’t really know what that means as far as being able to move around the hospital, etc. They will adjust his medicine while there to see how he responds.

In addition, he just told me at dinner that he has had seizures at school. If he has, then they have been slight enough that teachers have not noticed, otherwise we would have heard from them.

He will miss school on Friday. He will miss being with Meme & Papaw Friday night and Saturday. He will miss the Baylor/Samford football game on Saturday. I think what I am most upset about, though, is that he will miss the First Grade Bible presentation on Sunday morning. That, obviously, is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

At this point, he wants me to go with him, though that could change.

Please pray for patience for Evan and peace for Regina and me as we go through this procedure and seek to find the best medical route. We don’t know what that will be at this point, but sometimes just dealing with the seizures is the best option over medicine and its side effects.

Vote!

OK. I usually don't post on this type of stuff, because it's just a bit silly. But sometimes school pride dictates that I must...

Our Baylor Bear is in a mascot contest and it's really close. He's currently losing 28,615 to 28,526. Help close the gap.

VOTE HERE!

(By the way, you can vote once a day, so come back!)

No more spam...

After Steve's wise words (yes, I realize it doesn't happen often), I've turned on word verification. If it results in fewer legitimate comments, so be it...

Comment Spam

I've received my first comment spam...

Mabye it's not spam. Mabye this person likes my blog so much that he wants me to go to his pharmacy so that I can buy drugs to keep myself healthy so that I can continue to post so that he can continue to visit and read my very interesting posts (becuase he will definitely come back!).

(At what point do I turn on the "word verification" option? 1 spam? 3? 5? 10?)

A wonderful time

I have an incredible husband! I've always known that but this weekend he proved it once again. He arranged for his parents to take care of the kids in Salado and took me to Austin for a night away. The last few weeks have been pretty rough. Evan's situation has really been trying for all of us. I must admit, I was not happy about leaving my ill child but I certainly needed it. We went out for a yummy Mongolian stir fry dinner then back to the hotel for a great night's rest. I feel asleep before 10 p.m. Mark says I slept until 11:00 a.m. but I don't think it was THAT late. We ate lunch at Dirty Martin's (great onion rings) and Mark had to have some Amy's ice cream. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Salado. The kids had a great time with Meme and Papaw. I feel so blessed! Thank you honey for a wonderful "surprise." I really enjoyed it even if I cried and pouted all the way to Austin!

(Comment Spam removed for Mark's sanity.)

It has begun....

Many of you know that I have been running more lately. Some of you know that I have set a goal for myself. I may as well let the world know- I have decided to train for the Freescale Austin Marathon.

I decided to do a marathon a month or so ago and this past weekend I ran in my first race to move towards that goal- the Waco Symphony 6000. As you can see, I placed first in my age group, but don't read anything into that- you can also see that there were only 6 in my age group.

Anyway care to join me for a jog on February 19, 2006?

More seizures

Evan had another seizure Saturday night. It was disappointing, because it was the first he had in 3 weeks. Granted, he was very tired. We had gone to the Baylor/SMU game, so he took his medicine late and he had the seizure about 11 pm. Fatigue was certainly a factor, but it was still discouraging.

Then Sunday afternoon as we were getting ready to leave for Salado, he had another one. We realized that neither of us had given him his medicine that morning, so maybe you can blame that one on bad parents. Discouraging, nonetheless.

To be a little girl

Somedays I wish I were a little girl again. Those were the days. No laundry to do. No dinner to make. It's all about trying to get someone to play with you. This morning, Lindsay wanted to call her friend MacKenzie to "see if she wants to invite me over to her house to play." Yesterday, Lindsay played all day with her friend Belle who is four. I love to listen to their conversations. They have a great time playing dolls and doing cartwheels but they also have some pretty sophisticated conversations about Yoda and the Force. You can tell these girls have older brothers.

Yesterday, we thought Lindsay might have to get another vaccination. As I explained the situation to her, she listened carefully. Later, Lindsay looked a bit pale as we went by her pediatricians office. She asked if we were getting a shot. When I explained that we were not, she said "good 'cause scared just jumped into my heart."