THE BEST UPDATE EVER!!

It's been a while since my last update, but I'm happy to say that Jayden is doing better than he's been in months!! He's like a brand new child! We did have a set back due to the addition of Keppra!! for his seizures. He was getting bad reports from school and he was out of control at home and not getting much sleep at night. He was also VERY emotional. If anything left his sight (including me, or a favorite toy) he would get frantic and fall out on the floor weeping :( I read online that children with epilepsy usually have an increase in seizure activity whenever they get sick. Jayden had strep throat and bronchitis when his multiple seizures started, so I say he was pretty sick! So I was thinking that he really didn't need the Keppra!! anymore, and since he was on the smallest dose, I wouldn't need to wean him off. I could just stop it. I called the neurologist and explained my concerns and he agreed to stop the Keppra!! and said for me to keep it handy in case the seizures start again. I think his last dose of Keppra!! was Monday morning, and so far he has been absolutely fine. Each day of school, his report said that he participated well in EVERYTHING! And one day we pulled up to pick him up and saw him taking turns on the slide with his friends. He made a mistake and pushed one little boy in an anxious attempt to get one last slide in before he went home and he got down and did the sign language for sorry and even said "Sorry Trevor"!! I was so proud of him!

Now, I have even better news!! My child EATS!!! He has been eating at least 2 and sometimes 3 meals a day! And get this, he actually ASKS me to eat!! WHO IS THIS CHILD?? This is not the same child who was on the verge of getting a feeding tube placed b/c he wouldn't eat anything other than McDonald's fries once a day! Now he's eating grilled chicken and begging for more. And I have to say a big thank you to a lady named Elizabeth Barbone. I've searched the web for Gluten free recipes, have two other GF cookbooks, and I've tried so many tricks, but all of those recipes were bland and grainy and Jayden wouldn't go near them. Well I saw on a website that this book was a must have in a gluten free kitchen. I saw that it was for baking and thought "I really need FOOD recipes, not desserts" but I still went ahead and ordered it b/c I know I'd been looking for a better cornbread recipe for Jayden. Well this book came in and there's a recipe for buttermilk pancakes. I decided to make a batch since I had all the ingredients on hand. First pancake came out and I tasted it, fully expecting a mouth full of sand...UM, boy was I wrong!! That pancake was better than any gluten filled pancake I've ever tasted. It tastes like the good old fashioned pancakes my grandma used to make for us as kids!! I ate the entire thing!

Then when the next one came out, I offered it to Jayden. I watched him from the side of my eyes and he never sat his fork down. He was happily eating the pancake! And then, when he was done with it, he sat his fork on the table, finished chewing what was in his mouth, then reached his plate out to me and said "Mommy!! MORE!!" HAPPY TEARS!!!! OMG, I gave him as many as he wanted. He stopped at the third :) I froze what was left and he's been enjoying pancakes and sausage for breakfast for a week now. Then he'll eat a sandwich for lunch (usually a late lunch since he eats so much breakfast now!) and a chicken tenderloin for dinner if he's in the mood. I know it's repetitive, but this is a miracle for a child who was living off of fries and milk! And he put on the weight that he lost when he was sick. He looks and acts so much healthier now!

He has a GI appt scheduled for the 4th and we are also meeting with a dietician and were supposed to discuss a feeding tube. I seriously doubt that we will need to discuss that tube anymore! Praise the Lord! I know he will still have set backs since he has the epilepsy, but for now we are living in the present and taking it one day at a time. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him! And if you don't already have Elizabeth Barbone's cookbook, you need to get it!! It's a must for ANY kitchen! Even if you are not gluten free!!