9 Months

9 Months seizure free, a true miracle. If a year ago someone had told me we would be hitting this milestone I would have said it was not possible, in fact I probably would have told you, you were crazy.
I will share a little history which will help explain why this is such a miracle. Junior has something called Lennox Gastaut Syndrome which is a severe seizure disorder. When he was little there was a time he was having 15-30 seizures a day. Enter the keotgenic diet at age 4 which got him to 1 seizure every few weeks and we were thrilled with this. Then a few years later around age 8-9 the diet stopped working and the seizure were back, hitting multiple times a day. His neurologist told me to take him home and make him comfortable because there was nothing else he could do. Of course we promptly changed doctors and found one willing to do his best for Junior and with his help, meds were adjusted and he was back to about one seizure a month. But these were bad seizures and ended up being the tipping point which made the trach decision. Now here we are today, 9 months seizure free and on half the dose of seizure medication. We don't know what the future holds and are well aware the seizures could return but we are celebrating every moment of this miracle and so thankful and blessed. Without seizures and with decreased medication Junior is doing amazing, so many positive changes in his health. Never give up hope, every day is a gift.

Junior was determined to go for a walk even though it was cold and a bit windy so I bundled him up and off we went.  This is how he rolls when its cold outside.  I think a few people we passed thought I was suffocating the poor kid with the blanket up over his nose but not to worry he is on his ventilator so breathing just fine.  

We have been trying to come up with a variation of shake/high five that Junior and Yonder can do.  From Junior's chair it is not possible for him to shake Yonder's paw.  We came up with a "fist bump" with Yonder using his nose to bump.  It is perfect and allows him to jump on the edge of Junior's bed or chair and give him a "fist bump" greeting.  
I need to get video of him doing this with Junior but for now here is Yonder doing his fist bump with me.  

Last week Yonder tried on socks and wasn't impressed.  It was quite funny watching him trying to walk in them at first.  Within a few minutes he had figured it out though. 

A little snow flake painting for the Olympics. 

 

Falling Behind

Wow nearly the end of February and only my second February post.  Junior is doing well and enjoying the Olympics.  His favorites are the snow boarding, hockey, and ski jumping  with his least favorites being cross country skiing and ice dancing.

We had some gorgeous weather and spent a great deal of time outside enjoying it, but the past week the cold has returned. 
Here are a few pictures from before the cold moved back in.

 My dad found this cool Spiderman sweatshirt he knew Junior would love and he was soooo right. Junior was thrilled and couldn't wait to wear it. 

 
 You can see through the eye part and it can zip all the way over the face. Junior thought it was very cool though I found it a bit freaky and told him I was only zipping it up for a quick picture.
 
On one of our morning walks we headed to Petco so Junior and Yonder could use a Petco giftcard from back at Christmas.  Thankfully the store was empty so minimal germ risk.  Junior and Yonder are both feeling a bit of cabin fever. 
They picked out a couple toys which Yonder is quite pleased with. Sadly his favorite was the stuffed animal one and within a couple days it was toast.  Yonder loves toys that make noise but most of them can't hold up to his level of play(he is not that rough but he is big so just him being playful is too much for most toys).  The bone so far is awesome, looks and feels like a stuffed toy and has the squeaker but the inside is rubber and he has so far not damaged it at all while playing.

 Junior was very excited when we pulled out his leash last week.  We used it a bit at training but didn't want to pull it out here at home until Yonder was well adjusted and doing well on walks and outings.  Then I forgot about it.  I had been having a little trouble with Yonder lagging behind me some but as soon as we had Junior's leash on him(I have the blue leash and the yellow and blue one is on Junior's wrist) he walked right next to the chair and didn't tug or pull at all.  Amazing how intuitive he is of Junior's needs and that he needs to be extra careful with him.  

 With our apartment not having a lot of extra space for training we often end up on the porch for training sessions.  It is quiet and has more open space.  My sisters wheelchair was on the porch and I gave Yonder the up command, he got a little confused since there was no one in the chair and instead of putting his paws on the chair he jumped right in. 
 
Another beautiful day and another walk with my Spiderman and his sidekick
  

Of course when watching the Olympics one must play in the snow, in this case fake snow. 

 A little bubble fun in the sunshine.

 Yonder was not sure about those bubbles, he would just watch them intently like they might suddenly go after him.

 

 

 

 Socks these crazy people are making me wear socks.  Poor Yonder was not impressed with his introduction to foot wear but within a few minutes he had decided they weren't too bad.  I will see if I can download a video of his first time trying them. 
 
A few minutes later and he isn't looking so upset by the socks.

 Chilling on Junior's bed during treatment time.

 Watching the Olympics together or at least Junior is watching, Yonder was snoozing.

 My mom is sending him a couple chapters of a book she is reading to him each day and he is loving it.  She records herself reading the chapters and he thinks it is wonderful to have "a-ah" reading to him. In this pic he was trying to convince me he needed to listen to his story right then(we usually listen before bed).
 
Enjoying reading with grandma before bed.
 

Today Junior had a Shriners appointment and he did awesome.  Doctor was so pleased with how he is doing.  I want to take a moment to say how impressed I am with Shriners and service dog protocol. I am guessing they have had a training session on this because they were fabulous.  They totally ignored Yonder which allowed him to stay focused and do his job for Junior. 

Yonder is not trained as an alert dog and we had no idea how or even if he was going to respond to seizures.  

On Tuesday it was cold and windy and Junior wasn't feeling well.  Yonder was a mess, I might describe it as hyper vigilant(pacing, jumping up on Junior and clearly worried about his boy).  He didn't want to be away from Junior and was not even listening well to my commands.  Clearly something was wrong.  Then Junior started getting upset and teary.  At that moment it hit me "could he have a seizure coming on".  Junior often feels them coming but by the time I clue in and realize that could be it,  it is too late and the seizure is hitting. Thanks to his dogs behavior I asked Junior if he could feel a seizure coming on and got a very emphatic "yes, yes, yes".  We were early enough to get his weighted blanket on him and get some emergency meds on board and keep the seizure from happening.  A few minutes later you could see Yonder relax and then he headed for his bed where he flopped down and slept as if he had just run a race. Junior also calmed down and was back to watching his show.  I asked if he was still feeling a seizure coming and was told no and even got a smile.  Still no seizure and both are back to acting like themselves.  They are definitely the perfect team.  We are so blessed.

Sunshine

The weather is gorgeous right now and we are taking advantage of it.  Flu season is still at full speed so no outings around other people but we are sure enjoying talking lots of walks.  Junior also got to hang out on his swing.  Can't believe we are seeing temps in the 70s in February.

Junior ready to get outside.

There is a big field with a really nice, paved, walking trail behind our apartment complex which both Junior and Yonder love.  We are usually over there walking daily and it is a great place to let Yonder run and get some energy out. 

 

 

 

Yesterday enjoying a little time in his swing.

  

This pic made me laugh because I know why Yonder was not sleeping like he had been earlier.  One of my neighbors has a cat who likes to come visit.  It was sitting on a step just out of Yonders reach and meowing and grooming itself, basically teasing the poor dog.  The nice thing was watching Junior, my boy with a severe cat phobia, laughing about the whole thing.  Since getting Yonder he has not freaked out about cats(seeing one even at a distance was cause for total panic) and knows Yonder will keep them away(lol, don't tell him that Yonder likes cats and just wants to play with them). 

 

 

 It turning warm so quickly isn't doing good things for Junior's allergies but he is determined to still go outside.  Allergy meds and extra treatments are helping him continue to enjoy being outside we just have to take breaks and be sure his lungs are staying clear. 

This boy is rocking 8months and 1 week seizure free and we have the go ahead from neuro to continue his medication wean.  I am totally amazed that I am even able to contemplate the possibility of getting him off seizure meds.  Junior has always had a big personality and shown us he was smarter than people assume but as the meds are decreased that personality and intelligence are shining through even brighter.