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Friday, July 24, 2009 1:00 am est

We've all been consumed with Joseph and his medical problems for so long it's nice to talk about lighter things:
Joseph (2/3/00)
LOVES playing on the computer. We have dialup and it's so painful for him! :) He loves it when we go to the library or my parents. For some reason, Joseph loves casino games. It's funny bc we're not into that. His favorite color is green. The color of money. His mouth gets him in trouble constantly here recently. That poor boy has been on punishment more this year than his entire life!!
Jacob (11/4/05)
LOVES anything construction related. Books, toys, TV shows. His favorite color is yellow bc "it's just like heavy equipment". He wants to drive heavy equipment when he gets older
Jonathan (8/7/07)
He's that baby of the family and he lets us know it!! He can cry at the drop of a hat. Does EVERYTHING Jacob does and it's not always good. LOVES Spongebob Squarepants and will drop everything he's doing to watch it.
Karen & Joe (mom & dad)
I'm a stay at home mom and daddy is the bread winner. We recently listed our home (worst possible time,I know) and pray it sells. We have a new home that's almost complete waiting for us down the road. We built a ranch style with an unfinished basement so it's easier on Joseph (current home has stairs) and if Joseph needs to live with us as an adult we can finish the basement for him.
Our family has a strong love for the Lord and know that we are in his hands!

Thursday, July 23, 2009 12:13 am est

I let time get by again and there's a lot to talk about! Joseph is now 9 (in Feb.) and going into the 4th grade. His wonderful aid Mrs. Eggleston who's been with him since K is moving on with him as well. He's a straight A student in regular ed. We are very proud of his accomplishments. His brothers are Jacob (3 1/2) and Jonathan (2). And together they are a handful!!! But they are all mine!! Joseph is starting back his normal rounds of Summer therapy but we are going to a nursing home that's only 15 minutes away in Amelia VS going to Children's Hospital that's 45 minutes away. They have worked with children before so we will give it a shot. He finished another round of Hippotherapy at Horseplay in Chesterfield. www.horseplaytherapy.org
We've been going there about 3 years during the spring. Something new Joseph has had going on is seizures.
"On 1/14/09 Tuesday night around 10:45 I heard some grunting/spitting noises in Joseph's room. I went up there and he was having a seizure. It lasted about 1 1/2 minute and it took him about 10 min before he could answer my questions. That was the last thing I would expect to see. It was horrible seeing him like that. Ambulance took him to the er where he was showing no elevated WBC, CT scan was normal and no temp. We were told just to follow up with an EEG in an outpatient setting. Joseph fell asleep in the er room and at 2:20 am he started having another seizure. same duration. the doc and nurse witnessed it and gave him some atavan. they decided to admit him. at 4:30 am we got a room where he was listless and started shivering. still no temp. 98 degrees. the nurse said he may be starting a fever. well about 1 hour later his temp was almost 104! the nurse got him in the bath and gave him some tylenol. once out he threw up all this phlemy stuff his breathing sounded better and he settled down. chest xrays were fine, no flu, no walking pneumonia. Met with the neuro and he feels the same way we do. this is a separate issue from his CP. It's been almost 9 years since Joseph's birth seizures so the 2 are not related. The bad news is that his EEG is still showing "seizure wave activity". No seizures but the patterns indicate he could have another one. He wants to do a MRI in the morning (he's still at Chippenham) to look more closely at his brain. He stated that some kids around this age have seizures that start up out of the blue and they may or may not outgrow it. Like us, he doesn't feel he needs to be medicated bc if he were to put him on antiseizure meds, he would need to be on it for at least 3 years before they would try to wean him and see how his brain looks. He wants to see how he does without it bc he may not have anymore. If he does start having them, we would need to reconsider the meds. The doc also said we can have a antiseizure suppository on hand just in case to help shorten the seizure if he has more."
That's what I wrote to family and friends and since then we've changed neuros and has had about 10 seizures. All nocturnal tonic-clonic. We're going back to the one we had when Joseph was first born. We stopped going to him about 5 years ago bc Joseph was "fine". This doctor feels it is related to his birth injuries. He feels that as Joseph's brain is growing, the neurons in his brain, that's having all this extra activity (not seizure) are joining and discharging into a seizure. The doctor's concern is A) the seizures and B) if he's having all this extra activity at night, he's not getting rested for learning. So we have a 24 hour eeg scheduled next month but for now, he's currently on Keppra but we're still trying to get the dosing right. It's suppose to be the safest for children but if Joseph continues these seizure of seizure wave activity we may have to change. We invested in a $100 baby montitor that has audio and visual. It's a God send to us because I can see if he's having a seizure or if he's just moving around. His room is upstairs and I was constantly running up at every noise I heard. Joseph sounds like an old man at night and is very noisy!! These seizures are very frustrating bc Joseph has to deal with so much in life with his cerebral palsy and I never thought we would still have any more surprises related to his birth injury 9 years ago. But we just believe that the Lord has a plan. Joseph says that he's going to turn this test into a testimony. Continue to pray for us.

Sunday, February 3, 2008 0:20 AM CST

I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote here. Well, today is Joseph's birthday. He had his bestfriend stay the night. They had a great time! Joseph continues to thrive at everything he does! He's an honor roll student and works so hard! He has a wonderful aid whom we truly love. Joseph had another brother August 7 2007. He wanted a sister so badly but Jonathan will have to do. :) We are doing baseball again this year and horseback riding in the spring.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!!

Thursday, November 2, 2006 1:30 PM CST

Joseph is doing well in school. Had a reading test done and he's reading at a 6th grade level!! He really is a super kid and a blessing to EVERYONE who knows his. We are trying to get additional OT and ST. With school, it's kind of hard to do. Keep praying for his complete healing.

Tuesday, July 4, 2006 12:28 AM CDT

Happy birthday America!
Joseph did play ball this year. It took him a few games to start really liking it but in the end, it was a great experience. We meet a lot of families with differently abled children who were all great! Joseph also did hippotherapy. He really liked that too. We did it in the past but his school scheduled made us stop. Joseph finished Kindergarten and passed with flying colors!! He did SO well and is such a great reader! He's reading at a 2nd grade 6 month level! :) Something else that's exciting is that Joseph is getting a new walker. He has a Kaye reverse walker but he wants one that looks cooler. So we are getting a reddish orange one. Joseph is really wanting to walk everywhere he goes! When he falls, he finds something to pull back up to. At church, his testimony is his walking. He gets out of the pew and just walks down the aisle. It makes me heart jump!!
We are looking into intensive therapy but it's a lot of money. We are also doing Feldenkrais for therapy. The lady who is doing it will be certified in November so she can't charge us. She is doing it for the experience and to see if it will help Joseph. She's very friendly and really takes he time with him. We are praying that all the little things we do make a difference.

Monday, March 20, 2006 2:22 AM CST

Yes it's 3AM. Joseph has a baby brother who INSISTS on not sleeping tonight. Thank goodness Joseph is a hard sleeper! Still waiting to hear if he's doing SN baseball or not. The organizer is trying to find a place for them. Joseph said he didn't want to do hippotherapy so we will hold off for now. He wants to ride the "regular bus". Right now he gets out early to get on his SN needs bus. He wants to stay with his friends so we are trying to work around the bus schedule so he can stay. He got accepted into the DD waiver program for medicaid. The only catch is that there's a LONG waiting list. Prayerfully something in the state will change and he will be recieving benefits sooner. Oh! I almost forgot. He's about to loose his first tooth. Every day and night we do a tooth check. I swear the other tooth will be in before his baby one falls out!!!

Thursday, February 23, 2006 11:30 PM CST

Things are good here. Joseph had a birthday on the 3rd. I can't believe he's 6 years old. It seems like yesterday we were going through the best and worst day of our lives. He had 6 friends come over. They all played so nicely together. He is doing very well in school. He's an excellent reader! Soon he will be starting hippotherapy or special needs baseball. Haven't decided on one yet. I have been sad because two sets of parents on a support board I'm on (for brain injured children) have lost their children. I want Joseph to do so much more and these parents are grieving their children. Kind of puts things in perspective. Forgive me Lord for being greedy...

Friday, January 6, 2006 8:24 AM CST

Joseph continues to do well in school. We were there for a meeting and EVERY child in the classroom was hugging Joseph as he left. It was very touching. He wants to do baseball this year so I'm off trying to find a special needs BB field. His balance continues to be a big problem but he mananges to stay positive so we should too.

Saturday, August 6, 2005 8:40 PM CDT

Well we've been at camp for 5 weeks now. Joseph is enjoying it however it is very tiring for him. He can almost get to a standing postion on his own, is doing well at walking with taking steps over floor obstacles, getting better at dressing himself and improved on his core balance. There are other "little" big things that he's done too. I do think it's helped him but I want to be home too. Only 1 more week! Keep praying for him.

Thursday, May 26, 2005 7:55 AM CDT

Well we got our spot reserved for therapy this summer. I am so excited! Joseph's friend Chad is going as well. My sister has offered her home for us AND Chad and his mom. She's so sweet!!! I'm expecting big things from him this summer. It's about time he gets over this hump on standing by himself. Just keep praying!

Monday, March 7, 2005 8:03 AM CST

We are considering again conductive education. My sister recently moved to N. Va from AL and lives about 10 miles from the center so we can stay with here. It is about a 3 hour drive so we could come home on the weekends. Joseph is riding the school bus now and loves it! His balance is an ongoing issue but I know he will overcome his challenges!

Monday, January 17, 2005 2:25 PM CST

Joseph recently got his green belt in Tae Kwon Do. YEAH!! We are looking into suittherapy (www.suittherapy.com) to help his balance. It is very expensive and insurance does not cover it. The Lord will make a way for us.

Friday, December 31, 2004 3:00 PM CST

Thought I would give an update today. Joseph is doing well in school and everywhere else! He is so much fun! Currently, he's in special ed preschool. Prayerfully, he'll be in regular ed K next school year. He uses a reverse walker for ambulation and talks nonstop! Some days I have to tell he to be quite for a few seconds. We got what we prayed for. We are looking into suit therapy for him but it's rather pricey. Conductive education is another option for us. Please continue to pray for him.

Friday, May 21, 2004 10:01 AM CDT

Joseph continues to do well in school. We are still working on his balance. It is a major problem for him. We are researching the use of theratogs or suit therapy. We also started back the horseback riding and will conductive education in June. Continue to pray for him!

Friday, March 12, 2004 1:18 PM CST

It's been a while since I've updated Joseph's journal. Things are going well. He's in preschool 4 days a week and likes it. We've meet with some new doctors that hopefully give us advice on how to get him walking. It's very frustrating but I have faith in the Lord. He will take care of us!

Thursday, September 4, 2003 9:25 AM CDT

This is the first picture we got of our son. It's very difficult to this day to see what he went through but our belief in the Lord gets us through!

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