November 25, 2008 - So much to tell . . .

Hello All! Well, the title of this post says it all! We have news . . . good news . . . not so good news . . . and more! Where to start? Well, one praise is that we have had a prayer answered! Erik is no longer taking Trileptal (the medication that lowered his sodium) and a few weeks later . . . his sodium levels are normal! This is a BIG deal for us. Now for some other news . . . Erik has been having seizure activity for a few weeks now. Slowly increasing. He had a cold and fever the first week so we thought this could be the cause since any sickness increases his chances of seizures. The cold went away yet the seizures continued. We had his medication levels checked. It takes a week or so to get the results. Before we had the results and were able to change his medications, we woke on Sunday morning with Erik in a Grand Mal seizure. We are not sure what the enemy was up to but the medications we give him to stop this type of seizure did not work. We are not sure how long he had been seizing when we found him but perhaps because it went on for so long before we intervened, this is why it took a while for it to stop. After we gave him his medication, he continued to have intermittent seizure activity. Once an hour had passed, and he continued this pattern, we call the doctor. They indicated that he could be about to go into another Grand Mal seizure and that we should get him to the hospital. We were getting ready to go when Erik went into another Grand Mal seizure. We called 911 to have him taken to the hospital. He continued until around mid-day when he settled. He stayed in the hospital overnight and came home on Monday. We have introduced a new medication to assist with managing the seizures so we ask for your prayers that this will be the answer for Erik. We are not sure what the enemy was trying to accomplish but we are continuing to go THROUGH this! You may recall that many times when Erik has had spells like this, he comes out doing things he has not been able to do before. It is like God is "re-setting" him. This is what we are praying is happening now. Thanks for keeping Erik in your prayers. Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Erik's Family

November 4, 2008 - Moving in the right direction . . .

Hello All! We hope this email finds you all doing well! Erik is keeping us busy lately. He is getting more fun with each passing day! We have had a few nurses working with us lately who have not worked with us for several weeks. Their comments are that Erik is more alert, stronger (he is standing straighter and holding steadier than in the past), and is making and holding better eye contact! PRAISE GOD! As you know seizure medications are something we continue to manage for Erik. We have been successful eliminating Trileptal - the medication that has successfully controlled his seizures in the past but had the side effect of dangerously lowering his sodium. Because we have eliminated Tripetal and because the belief is that the Trileptal was causing this dip in his sodium level, we have began the process of lowering his supplemental sodium and so far so good! the fewer medications there are to administer until God completely restores Erik and frees him from the bondage of seizures, the better! Erik has experienced a few minor breakthrough seizures but we continue to pray these away. I watched a movie recently where one of the actors said that when things get rough, this is a good sign that the Lord has you on the verge of a breakthrough! Just hearing this confirmed our thought about what is happening with Erik. We are working towards him becoming medication free! Thanks always for your prayers for Erik and our family! Love in Christ, Erik's Family