Ariel M.
Diagnosis: Intractable Epilepsy

Ariel has been having a relatively tough summer. We’ve had some fun times as well. We had grandparents here for two weeks during the 4th of July. We had a very nice time playing games, enjoying barbecue on daddy’s new grill and doing fireworks. Ariel worked at the firework stand with her brother Daniel and enjoyed doing that. She also took the beginning Wilton cake class. She is a natural at cake decorating and we both enjoyed the class.

 

Off and on this whole summer she’s been having some pretty significant seizures. She had several episodes of going weeks at a time having seizures. We recently switched Neurologists and are working with her new one to get better control for her. She also underwent painful Nerve conduction studies that didn’t really tell us much. The seizures are worrisome for the fact that they have such a large effect on her memory. Hopefully we can get a better combo of meds to get her better control.

 

Like I said we also have had some fun times swimming in the pool, playing croquet and going on day trips. We have done a few Starlight trips lately and gone to movies, the circus and some other fun things. She also had a great time celebrating her brothers Daniel and Michael’s birthdays. We have rented a cabin for September and hope to go camping and are also going to take a trip out to Whidbey Island.

 

Thank you for the ongoing cards, packages, support and mainly prayers we so appreciate them and they mean so much to our family.

 

Thank you again.

 

God bless,

Linn (Ariel’s mom)

Ariel M.
Diagnosis: Intractable Epilepsy

We’ve been busy the last several months. It seems there is always something going on. In January Ariel spent a week in the Children’s Hospital in Seattle for testing. In February Ariel had a lovely girls tea and had her room redecorated and painted. In March we all got sick and Ariel got a case of Walking Pneumonia.

We have been doing school with a few outings to the movies and such. In April Ariel burned a couple of her fingers pretty bad. After a trip to the doctors and some ointment they healed pretty well, but she does have some scarring. I’m sure it will fade in time. We had a lovely Easter with church service and dinner with a friend. Unfortunately the following week she was swinging and the swing broke. She fell on her elbow on a rock and we thought for sure she had broken it. Thankfully after a trip to the E.R. we found out it was just bruised badly and sprained.

 

In April she started having bad seizures again. She seized off and on for a whole week. We ended up calling the ambulance and had her transported to the hospital. After several loads and a day in hospital she came home and they decided to do another spinal tap on her. Unfortunately the results were high. She has to endure a lot more testing now, so we can figure out what is wrong. Last week we celebrated Ariel’s 16th birthday with a camping trip. She had a wonderful time.

 

Thank you to everyone for all the cards thoughts, prayers and support. It’s all so appreciated.

 

God bless,

Linn (Ariel’s mom)

Ariel M.
Diagnosis: Intractable Epilepsy

We have had a whirlwind of activity the last few months, thankfully it’s been more busyness and not as much health stuff. In November of this year the Woodland Park Zoo put on Ariel’s send off party for her Make A Wish trip. She got a private tour and had cake and pizza plus visits from some animal friends. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with grandma and grandpa and Ariel’s brother that came in from Iraq. In December we flew down to Orlando to her Make A Wish trip at Disney World. It was fabulous. Everywhere we went she was treated like a princess. We had so much fun playing with Mickey and Minnie and thankfully no one had any seizures while there. She even got to go to a special Hawaiian Dinner show complete with Luau and dancers. We had a wonderful time at Give Kids The World a resort just for wish kids and made some new friends. We even had the culinary academy cook dinner for us.

 

We had a very quiet Christmas at home celebrating The birth of Christ and a fun New Year at friends with lots of games and fun. Unfortunately Ariel’s brother Daniel had a very bad seizure that night. He has since recovered. The second week of January Ariel spent in hospital for testing. It was not a fun experience being cooped up like that, but at least it is done. She has some more testing to do, but at this present time she seems to be pretty stable. She’s not had a major seizure event since August and that’s a definite plus. Right now we are repainting her bedroom and just busy with school and life type things. Thankfully things are fairly quiet and stable at our household and healthwise all seems good. We know it can change at any moment, but we have learned to savor the quiet times and get as much accomplished as we can.

 

Thank you to all the wonderful people that have sent Ariel and the rest of the family cards and gifts. We so appreciate all you do, but sometimes just don’t get a chance to get thank you’s out.

 

Thank you again.God bless,

Linn (Ariel’s mom)