24 hour EEG

Wednesday was a big day for us! Dylan had he 24 hour EEG. Most people who read this blog know that Dylan had a HUGE seizure a year ago on the side of the highway in Alabama. From there he went through lots of tests and appointments and we found out that he had something called benign rolandic epilepsy. Its actually the "best case scenario" in this situation. It is something that he will grow out of in 5 years and it is only brought on by the lack of sleep.

Recently his asthma started acting up again and he wasnt sleeping real well. He had a few episodes that we just didnt feel good about. They werent full out seizures like his first one but they were more of a starring off to the side type thing and acting strange. Needless to say I was a mess and called the neurologist for an appointment. I again got goose bumps when I called and was able to get in that same week! That NEVER happens. The next available appointment was none other than the exact date has his first seizure which was 2 months away...not even kidding! So to rule out any other diagnosies we needed to get a 24 hour eeg done to see if he was having "mini seizures".

He did great during the test, he got to play video games watch movies, play games with Tim and I and do some reading. The hospital was a great place to be, the DeVos Children's hospital was absolutely beautiful. We wont get results for 2 weeks. After all it is 24 hours of info that 2 neurologist have to look at and analyze. I will try to keep this blog updated, you know Im not the best at that. :) Here are a few pictures of Dylan getting the wires on and then playing some playstation with Tim.

deck of ice

The joy of living in Michigan! Ice storm in March!

So Tim figured out that the deck was a little icey and he was skating around in his slippers.

Of course the kids wanted to try. Lets just say, Dylan has his daddy's moves. :)

Things Tim does with the kids

Amayas first time in the snow

Here are a couple of pictures of Amaya's first time in the snow. So I was not trying to be "artsy" in these at all, I was just trying to take some pictures of the girls, while making sure Riley wouldnt go out of our yard. I was going just snapping pictures not thinking about how they looked. After I looked at the pictures I realized I never even got a picture of Amayas face. Right when I set her down she was on a mission. to where??? not sure... but she was not planning on stopping or slowing down. These pictures are kinda in reverse order, the first should be last...(haha, where have I heard that from. :)) Anyways, just wanted to update my blog since its been a few months. Sorry about that Rob. :)

Natalie's ear piercing.

Ok, SO....It is Natalie's 4th birthday today! We have been talking for months about getting her ears pierced and she had been SO excited to get it done, until today. She was crying on the way there saying she didnt want them done so I felt like I was being a terrible mom for "forcing"it. BUT on the other hand I knew right when we would turn around to go home, she would say she wanted it done! So I did a little bribery, I said she could get Hello Kitty ear muffs to make her ears feel better after she got them pierced, she was totally excited and really wanted it done after I told her that. :)

So I have a couple of videos that show her in the chair, really excited, picking out the earrings and talking to the people around her and so on. I knew what was going to happen, I KNEW she would cry. She cries if she smells something bad, of course she would cry for something that is painful! So I recorded it and if anyone wants to scare their child into NOT getting it done, then you should show them the video. If you WANT your child to get their ears pierced, dont show them this video. By the way, 2 minutes later, she was totally fine because someone gave her a piece of candy. oh Natters...

and she's off!

excuse the horrible picture, it was on my phone.

amaya just started walking a couple of weeks ago and now she is super fast.

and a new trick is to tell us what a cow says. except she only did it onc on the video of course...lil stinker!

Another Angel

Wow, its been a while since I updated this, sorry ROB!

I wanted to share a story that happened yesterday that brought us back to 5 months ago on the side of the highway in Alabama.

Tim got a call yesterday from a weird area code and wasnt going to answer it thinking it was just the wrong number or some telemarketer type call. He answered it and a guy says, "is this Tim Bruinsma? This is Jason from Alabama." I'm sure the first thing that went through Tim's mind was a collector of some sort for a bill we needed to pay. But he continued to say, "I was one of the first responders the day that your son had a seizure, I spent a lot of time with your wife in the ambulance and in the hospital."

He was the guy that I remember the most because he kept on telling me everything was going to be "aright" and that he has kids right around Dylan's age. He stayed with me at the hospital until Tim made it there and was just a really nice guy. SO back to the story...he continued to tell Tim that he has been working as a paramedic for YEARS and he has never had someone that stood out in his mind and couldn't stop thinking about until Dylan. He said that it has been on his heart to call for a long time, just to see how Dylan was doing and how it was going with us. He said that his wife had to convince him to call Tim because he kept bringing Dylan up.

At this point in the story when Tim was telling me, I started to cry...this stranger from 12 hours away has been praying for Dylan for 5 months and doesn't even know us! How humbling and amazing is that?!

He then continued to tell Tim that he just felt like he had to do something for us. He said that he would really like it if we would stay in his condo he owns in Gulf Shores for a few days free of charge of course. He said that he wasnt doing this to get recognition or anything like that, he just felt that the horrible experience that he witnessed us going through that day made him really want to do this for us. What a nice guy?! Who does that? It is unbelievable to me that a stranger would do this for US 5 months later. I cant quite grasp it. At the end of the conversation Tim had told him that he is one of many angels that we have met since that day.

Also, an update on Dylan...He is doing great, he hasnt had any seizure activity since that day. He is living as normal as he did before April 2. He knows about the seizure and about the medication that he needs to have on him at all times. The whole story gets brought up at least 2 times a week by either Dylan or Natalie. They talk about it a lot, Natalie especially because she had a front row seat to everything that went on. When she sees an ambulance on the road she says that it is probably going to someone that has a "sezture", she is something else... :)