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March 26, 2009

Back on the saddle and back in the 'horse...

The Neurology Team at BC Children's Hospital is fantastic, and they really are a team. The doctors, nurses, and dietician all work together and we had seamless and caring treatment, no matter which member of the team we were dealing with. We still don't know what caused the downward slide, but we managed to get Jade back on track (she's still having seizures, but a fraction of what she was having before we went down) by fasting her for a day and completely weaning her from one of her medications. Over the course of a week, we had daily in-person and over-the-phone check-ins. We discussed what we would do if something like this were to happen again and we discussed further treatments for Jade down the road.

My brother- and sister-in-law, as always, came to my rescue, making sure that I was fed and giving me a chance to have conversations with someone capable of using sentences longer than three words. I feel bad for my brother-in-law when he comes out to visit us at Easter Seal House because he always becomes the unwilling participant in one-sided conversations with other guests who insist on telling him the finer details of their entire medical histories. Poor guy.

Easter Seal House is paradise, compared to staying at the hospital. Jade enjoyed playing in the toy room, especially when other kids joined her. She's a very social kid, even immediately after has a drop seizure and gets carpet burn on her nose. Nothing like that is going to hold her back from having fun.

We got out to see some of the kid-friendly Vancouver sights, too. My sister-in-law and Jade and I went to Science World, which was jam-packed with spring breakers. We spent half of our visit trying to feed Jade and the other half mopping up blood from when she banged her mouth during a drop seizure. That didn't stop Jade from having fun, though!

We also went to Stanley Park. Our original plan was to go to the petting zoo, but it was closed by the time we got there. Instead, we went to the playground. Jade had a drop seizure and face-planted herself on the hard, gravelly sand. Because of the seizure, she fell with her eyes and mouth open. We spent most of our visit mopping up blood and trying to flush sand out of her eyes. That didn't stop Jade from having fun, though! We left the playground and walked to one of the ponds where a lady was feeding a swan. She was a volunteer with the park, taking care of a swan with an old neck injury. When the swan was done feeding, the volunteer let Jade feed the ducks. Who needs a petting zoo when you can feed ducks - even if your eyes are full of gravel?


Successfully weaned off her medication, seizures reduced, and face healing from drop seizures, we're back in Whitehorse where the snow is melting. To be honest, I'm not really looking forward to the melt. The snow makes a pretty effective cushion when Jade has a drop seizure. Not that it ever stops her from having fun.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yup, one adventurous little gal, our Jade. After shoving fistfuls of acorns into to hungry mouths of dozens of deer in a petting zoo at age 1.5 ducks must be three levels down on the andrenaline scale. But not to despair - there are coyotes in Stanley Park in case ducks get boring.

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

Poor little gopher!! She sure is a trooper. I would still be crying about carpet burn on my nose. Glad you are home and Jade is doing well!

Every Photo Tells A Story said...

Aw, great news that her seizures are reduced, Michael. She sounds like a ball of fire, and I suspect that what she is going through now will only make her a stronger and more beautiful woman (inside and out). Thank you for the update:)

~Nancy

Idania said...

It's great to hear that your family is reunited again and that Jade is getting better. And it's nice that she's not letting the drop seizures stop her from having fun!