Back from Seattle

Well it has taken me until now to make a post about our trip because I was not sure exactly what to say yet (and I am still trying to figure it out).
We flew out Saturday 9-11 (of all the days to pick to leave on a plane), and both boys did very well on the flight. Jacob slept most of the flight and Josh looked out the window and asked a lot of questions. Our only little issue was when we were towards the end of the flight and the flight crew was preparing everything for landing and Jacob decided to gag on a small piece of pretzel I gave him and then proceed to throw up some of what he had eaten. The flight attendant was very good about helping me get things cleaned up very quickly and even hanging tea bags around us to prevent the smell from further affecting others on the plane. Of course he was able to do all of this before we landed on the ground. We arrived in Seattle around 3:30 pm Pacific time and then had to wait about an hour for our rental car details to get worked out, but we finally made it to West Seattle to Pat and Tom's house where we were greeted with wonderful food and great company. Liz, Gary, Pat and Tom are the greatest hosts! Sunday we hung out, relaxed, and went to the Sunday street market to look around and get some local berries, bread and such, and Josh spent lots of time playing with his Seattle friend Milo (who lives next door).
Monday we went to Seattle Children's Hospital, where they checked Jacob in and put on all of the leads for his overnight EEG. We then got to just hang out and wait for the seizures for the rest of the day. The nurses there were great at taking care of him and coming in and describing all of Jacobs seizure for the video so the doctors could better evaluate them later. My only complaint was that we did not get much sleep because it was noisy and they came in at midnight and woke him up just to take his blood pressure.

Tuesday he had the first MRI followed by a functional MRI and then they released him when he was awake from the anesthesia and able to eat and drink a bit. He did not like the hair do he was given and was very happy to leave!

Wednesday we came back and had a couple of appointments with the Neurosurgeon and the doctor we had seen before and he had another eye exam (his eyes are great). The doctors were very good at answering all of our questions and believe Jacob may be a good candidate for Surgery. All of the seizure activity is on the left side of his brain, and they think he may have already switched many of his functions to the right side that normally would be controlled on the left, but that they will revue all of the EEG and MRI data and give us more information in a couple of weeks. If they did surgery though, they thought it should be done in about 3 months or so. All in all, they gave us a lot of information to think about and will let us know what their recommendations are and what kind of options we have soon.

We made it back though and while Josh had a bit of trouble getting back into the routine of school (decided he hated school and wanted a couple more days off), we are getting settled again and just taking things day by day.

They grow up so fast

It was a nice labor day weekend in Boise, and we had a full weekend of balloons, huckleberries and Bronco football!

We started out our weekend by getting up early Saturday morning and going down to the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic. We got there just in time to see all of the balloons lifting off the ground and we even got to go right up and get close to them. It was amazing to watch them all and we had a great time, even if we did have to wake a couple of boys up early (we were able to bribe them with donuts though).

After that we piled into the truck and went up in search of the elusive huckleberry, along with my sister Erin and her son Charlie. We found a pretty good patch of them, but this year the huckleberries are pretty small and not quite as plentiful as last year (but they were sweeter), so it took us a bit longer to get enough for some pancakes and milkshakes.

Sunday was a day of yard work and just hanging around the house (and of course huckleberry pancakes). While Rick worked on the yard, Josh decided to build his own version of a roller coaster, but of course he needed a rider, so Jacob got to fill that duty. Jacob did not mind trying it out, but I had to make sure the roller coaster did not go too fast.
Monday, we got ready to watch the much talked about BSU Broncos in their game against Virginia Tech. We invited some friends and family over, and while there were a few nervous moments in the second half, BSU pulled it off in the end and won 33 to 30.

But today it is the start of a new day, and with that it is also the start of Josh's first day of preschool at Eagle Montessori. He was excited to go, but a bit nervous once he got there. I think he will have a great time though. I am sure he will come home with many new friends. He is only going half days right now, but he says if he likes it he wants us to put him in the full day program (we will give him a month or so to decide though).

We are also getting ready for the next trip to Seattle. We will leave on Saturday and will come back Wednesday evening. I am anxious to see what more they can tell us about Jacob's seizures and the possibility of some kind of long term solution. While he seems to be having a few less seizures, and seems to be in a bit of a better mood over all, he is still having more than I would like to see him have. So I don't know if I like the risks the new medicine brings with the amount of (little) good it is doing. I will update next week on Thursday, after we are back, I promise (so check back then)!

August, where did you go?

Well, I promised to be better at getting the posts up quicker, but what can I say? First I had no Internet for almost a whole week, then we went on vacation, then the doctors appointments, OK enough excuses.
We have had a pretty good month, we started out the end of July with a visit from Rick's sister Michelle and his nephew Dayton. We took them fishing and to the Snake River Stampede among other things and had a great time.

We then headed over to the Oregon Coast with Rick's mom Connie, and our friends Kevin, Angie, and Laney, for a week of vacation and to get out of the hot weather here in Boise (of course it cooled down when we left and warmed back up when we got back). It was a bit chilly and grey there, but we caught lots of crab, collected agates, relaxed and of course visited the Tillimook cheese factory for ice cream.

Rick, Josh, Jacob and I also took a day to head down to the Newport aquarium and stopped at Yaquina Head lighthouse, where we actually saw the sun for a little while.

Finally on our last day there the sun decided to make an appearance, (and we actually even put our shorts on). We went down and made sand castles on the beach (except Jacob decided to just eat the sand instead) and went over to the Cape Meares lighthouse and one last trip of crabbing.

All in all we had a great time, except that Jacob started the new medicine the doctors wanted him to get his eyes checked out for, so he was a bit grumpy and tired for the first few days of our trip. Now we are back home and settled in and getting ready for our trip to Seattle for more testing on Jacob. He is doing all right, the new medicine seems to be helping, but the seizures are not gone. They just raised the dose, so we have had another few days of being tired and cranky, but hopefully they can give us more ideas when we are in Seattle.

Right before we left for the coast though, Josh learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. He was very proud and excited, so we went out and bought him a new bike (he was getting a bit big for his old one anyway).

Now that August is gone, we are getting ready for a long weekend of doing some Huckleberry picking, and whatever else comes along. Hope everyone else has a great Labor day weekend!