Monday, April 19, 2010

Wilmington and the 1st annual p4p 5K

We had a quick but fun trip to Wilmington this weekend. Jack was "master of ceremonies" for the start of the race and did a great job saying "ready...set...go!". There was a great turnout and hopefully a lot of money raised for the paws4people organization.

One humorous note...awareness of the existence and purpose of service dogs continues to be a challenge for all of us. We stopped at a McDonalds (where else?) in Wadesboro in Anson County on the way Saturday. Lisa said when she walked in with CAYLIE, someone asked her "Is that thar one of them seein' eye dawgs?". We just have to keep plugging away folks. Right?

We were very blessed to get to spend some time with Susan and Dan Ivancevich. We were so excited to finally meet Amanda and ELLIE. ELLIE was one of the first service dogs provided by the paws4people organization. Susan wanted to see the type of harness that CAYLIE uses with Jack. Amanda practiced walking around with CAYLIE which was pretty awesome. Amanda is doing amazingly well.

It was so helpful for us to spend time talking with Susan about their experiences as Amanda had the same surgery Jack is about to have. Although they have completely different diagnoses, it is helpful to talk to someone who had to go through what you are about to have to go through.

Susan invited us to visit their horses before heading home and Jack got to do some riding and see some of the animals. See the pictures below.

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Spent a little time at the beach Saturday afternoon. It was so windy that Jack couldn't tolerate it but it was nice to see the ocean again.





Katelyn, CAYLIE, Jack, Kyria and WYATT

Jack and Amanda meet for the first time

CAYLIE putting on her best pose

Jack announces the start of the 5K race

Jack, CAYLIE and Kyria

Amanda practices with CAYLIE and her harness

Amanda doing very well standing with CAYLIE's help
Jack and Katie each hold one of the newborn goats

Jack loved getting to ride!



Friday, April 9, 2010

Jack's surgery date set

The surgery date is now set for June 2nd at Duke Hospital. He will have pre-op appointments on June 1st. We will most likely travel up on Monday, May 31st, Memorial Day.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Update on surgery

Met with Jack's doctors yesterday and are looking at the end of May/1st of June for Jack's surgery. He has to be weaned off the depakote as it interferes with platelets and they are critical for clotting. Six weeks are required to get him off the medicine so that's why there is the delay.

The procedure will last about 4 hours and he will be in intensive care for a couple days followed by about 5 days in a regular room. They will then move him to inpatient physical therapy at Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte. It is expected that he will not lose much functionality with this surgery. The neurosurgeon expects him to recover relatively quickly due to his young age.

It is unclear what to expect seizure-wise after the surgery. With some patients, the seizures completely go away and never return. Some have a couple post-op. In some cases, the seizures are reduced in intensity or can be better controlled with medication. All in all, there is roughly at least a 50% chance of being completely seizure free with no more meds required.

We will let you know the exact date as we progress towards the surgery.