Sometimes ya plan well and ...

We took Jason to a pediatric neurologist at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth today. This was a followup to the EEG we had done after his last pair of seizures. Along the road, oh say around Putnam, Jason decides he should have used the bathroom before we left. I, being the dad that I am, couldn't refuse the moment.

Another Story from Jason - History and Me

I thought it was time for another story from Jason. This one is near and dear to my heart since I enjoy reading and studying history so much myself. Well, enough about me. Here's Jason.


History and Me

The Alamo, the battle of San Jacinto, the Louisianna Purchase, what do these things remind you of HISTORY!!!! History is so interesting to me because.
Well, for starters, you never know what one person will do and how another will react. Second of all, you learn something new every time you read a bit of history. Also you learn about very important people like, Sam Houston, George Washington, and Davy Crockett. But then, you can lean about the culture and language of different from long ago. Say the Indian. As well you could learn about great things that happened to different people. Maybe for instance, the fight for Mexican independence, or the war for Texan independence. Plus, you could take a guess with the scientist about things like, how the Indians got to North America. But one more thing, everything you’ve done in the past is history What I’m trying to say is you don’t have to do something that will change the world forever to make history. History is being made every second that passes. So anyone can make history by just having a past.
Well that is pretty much it, history and all it’s aspects. If you want to learn more, you’ll have find out for yourself. But wait, one more thing, history never stops.

The Hard Side of the Trip to Austin

As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now, the rest of the story."

Jason had two seizures this weekend. I kept hoping we were out of line of fire on his health but this weekend showed we are not. The worst of it for us was Sunday night/Monday morning. We went to sleep in the hotel room around 11PM on Sunday night. Somewhere around 12:30AM or 1:00AM on Monday morning, Jason had another attack. It was the first time Karen and I have witnessed the seizure from the beginning to the end. The actual seizure lasted around 10 minutes (it just seemed like a long time to Karen and me). There's not much to do but keep Jason safe from himself. I put my arms around him and try to keep him from dropping off the bed or falling into something that could hurt him. According to the doctors, its important to not restrain someone having seizures like this. You just have to keep the safe. You are not supposed to put your fingers in their mouth. There is no risk of him swallowing his tongue. There is also little to no chance that he will stop breathing.

I think seeing this phase of the seizure scared Karen and me so we called 9-1-1. They responded to the hotel and recommended Jason be taken to the emergency room. Karen stayed in the hotel room with Joshua and Jonathan and I went with the EMT and Jason to the hospital. He was very sick to his stomach so it took awhile to get that settled down. The Emergency nurses and doctor worked with Jason for two or more hours. From 3:00AM until 4:00AM I gave him sips of Gatorade to get him re-hydrated.

We got back to the hotel sometime before 5:00AM. Both of us were completely exhausted. Karen was glad to see us again.

It was decided that we would take Jason to a pediatric neurologist associated with the hospital there in Austin. After a lengthy discussion with her, it was decided to put Jason on medication for his seizures. The doctor felt that his fatigue and some other factors pointed to the possibility that he was having seizures more often than we thought but they were just not as severe so he didn't always scream out loud. In other words, he was having milder seizures some nights that did not cause him as much pain so we never knew it.

Tonight's plan is for one of us to sleep in his room with him to see how well the medication helps with the seizures. If it works as planned, it should stop them completely after one or two doses.

Needless to say, after two nights of seizures in a row, we are all very tired and are praying the medicine with help. Jason needs sleep and mom needs some peace of mind. Being so close to this kind of issue makes you realize how fragile things are. How easily it can all slip away.

I'm really proud of the way Jason is dealing with all of this, the maturity he shows at the hospital and the nurses. I know Karen is too.

Next steps are to have another EEG done to check that dad-gummed rolandic area of the brain to make sure we are diagnosing the seizures correctly as Benign Rolandic Epilepsy. We have an appointment with his pediatrician tomorrow for the EEG. Then we will need to visit with the neurologist in Austin or switch to one in Fort Worth for a checkup in four to six weeks.

We'll keep you posted via this blog, email and phone calls.

Jon-Jon at the Cheesecake Factory

On the way out of town, we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory. We promised the boys a piece of the best cheesecake they will ever eat. Jon-Jon decided he wanted to eat like a hillbilly so I told him to tuck his napkin in the front of his shirt. Which he did! I think Josh was a little embarassed.

A Snack to the State Capital

Its been a long day (more about that later) so we decided to take a break while touring the State Capital Building.

Quick stop by the state capital

We're on our way back to the hotel and decided to stop by the capital building and see it at night. It is quite a sight.

Dinner in Austin wasa great!!!

The dinner was a success! Jason had a pizza. Jon had macaroni and cheese. Josh had grilled chicken and broccoli. We were proud of him for picking good food. They all shared what they had. Jason stated,"This was the best Italian food I've ever had ...uh ... Except for mom's" (as an after thought). Then we had Krispy Kreme donuts for desert.

We learned that when you go to a Krispy Kreme and the red "Hot Donuts: light is lit, each person that walks into KK gets a free glazed donut. They give you one hot off the grill. They are soooo good like that.

Jason in Austin

Well, we made it to Austin. First order of business after getting to our hotel room was to find food. We found a Macaroni Grill. That was Karen's favorite restaurant while we lived in Houston. Hopefully, the boys will find something on the menu they can endure.

Jason Writings - The Funky Uncle

Jason wrote a few stories while attending school at Taylor Elementary. Here is one of those stories. The story is presented here exactly as it was on the paper.


THE FUNKY UNCLE
Who’s the funkiest uncle? Do you know? Well, I can tell you right here and now. It’s my uncle! I think.
Um, well, It all started like this. I met him when I was 1. But I didn’t have much to do with him till I was 5. Then I stated to play a game with him called yu-gi-oh. I’ve been playing the game for 4 years! The game is simple. Wipe out your opponent’s life points starting, at 8000. Well, after I learned yu-gi-oh, he taught me about gaming and graphics. Then after about a year, me and him played video games all the time. But then, came the move. My uncle moved all the way to Houston. I wasn’t happy for a whole day. But one day, my mom and dad agreed that we could go visit him!!!!! For a week I was planning what we’d do. Then when we got there (after 8 hours of driving). I tried to spend as much time with him as possible. Well, I guess its time to tell you his name, Uncle Derek. But I will tell you one thing. He is the funniest funkiest uncle, who ever lived. P.S. When I’m around him, he gets the funky mojo going in me to.

Birthday Pool Party

We spent the day at Uncle Mike's and Aunt Robin's house. The reason for the party was Kaitlyn's 15th birthday. All the usual suspects were there: Ma-maw, Pa-paw, Uncle Andy, Jamie, Jane, all of us, and, of course, Makenzie. As the saying goes, "The cake and ice cream flowed like wine." Or something like that. And there were some good brownies.

After treats came the gifts. Kaitlyn mostly received gift cards but got some clothes. Finally, it came down to pool time. The kids are in the pool right now playing Marco Polo. I think the kids had a good time. Thanks Mike and Robin for a good party.

An Evening at Willow Creek Golf Course

Lord knows, we try! We took the boys out to Willow Creek Golf Course. It is a par-3, nine hole course here in Abilene. We managed to lose something like 6 balls, most of them in the water. Anyhow, the boys had a good time for the most part. We need to work on two areas: their golf safety, being defined as not walking up to someone who is swinging a golf club and being courteous, being defined as not rushing to be the first one to hit off the tee box. There were some really good hits. And then there was number 9. Did you know there are 3,246,547 blades of grass between the number 9 tee box and the green? Well, we had plenty of time to count them. The boys got tired around this point of the evening. Every hit was 2 - 3 inches behind the ball and when they hit the ball, it would travel 10 yards.

We were all tired and thirsty at the end so we went to Sonic and had cool drink.

My First Drawer

This may look like a simple drawer to the untrained eye. But, it is not. It is, in fact, the first drawer I have ever built myself. It is, therfore, an achievement equal to if not greater than the building of the pyramids or one of the other great wonders of the world. And, just in case you are wondering, it fits and works perfectly. On to the next drawer!

Vacation 2007 - Hiking on a Mountain

We spent the morning hiking on the Fort Davis Historic Site in ... Uh ... Fort Davis. It was a cloudy day so the trip was very comfortable. The hike at the fort is about 2 miles and involves going up the side of the mountain, across it and back down.

We are all hungry so we're headed into town for lunch.

Vacation 2007 - Rock Hunting

We spent a majority of the day on a ranch about 15 miles south of Alpine. On this ranch, one can search for and collect agate rocks. Particularly, there is a rock called Red Plum Agate that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Karen actually found one of these rocks in very good condition. The boys also found some very nice rocks.

After the rock hunt, we went to Alpine to eat at a good little restaurant called La Casita. The food was very tasty.

After that, we returned to the cabin for a swim.

Right now, the boys and I are in town (Fort Davis, of course) having ice cream at The Caboose.

That's it for today.

Vacation 2007 - Time on the Range

We spent time on the driving range, not the open range, yesterday. Jason and Joshua hit golf balls at the flags. I made a deal with them: if they made it within a few feet of the red flag, I would buy them a new game for their Game Boy. I still have my money. But there are two more days for them to try. I really hope they make it.