We Are Home

The past week and a half we were finishing up the training for Canine Companions for Independence.  Wow, what an experience, something we will never forget.  We are totally exhausted so I will share more later this week but for now I want to introduce our newest family member Yonder.  He is Junior's new assistance dog and most importantly his new buddy.

 

 

 

23 Weeks!!!!!

Junior has now gone 23 weeks, that would be 161 days without a seizure.  A miracle which we are celebrating every single day.  A truly amazing thing in all this is that after his last neurology appointment we started weaning his seizure medication.  So even with a medication wean we have not seen even the flicker of a monster visit.  Junior is extremely sensitive to changes so withdrawal symptoms/seizures were expected but we are well into the wean and we have seen no issues, in fact the opposite is happening.  He is happier, more focused, able to communicate more efficiently, and letting everyone know who is in charge.
We are so very thankful for this amazing blessing and know that with the type of seizure disorder Junior has the monster could visit at any moment.  But in this moment we will celebrate this miracle we never thought possible.  God is good.
This picture is from yesterday which is why it says 160 days seizure free.

Pumpkin Fun

Junior has enjoyed pumpkin fun the past couple days.  He also was able to get out for a walk and some time in his swing for the first time in over a week.  We both caught the flu thats going around and much of last week was spent quite sick.

Ahhh, back in his swing again and loving it.

 

He and Abby made glitter pumpkins

 

Decorating pumpkins

 

Trach pumpkin, of course every pumpkin needs a trach.  

 

Junior started his thankful pumpkin early this year since part of November we will be back at doggy training.

 Junior sound asleep a couple days ago.  I wanted to share the picture to show how relaxed and open his hands are.  His arms are also down on his lap and not pulled up into his chest.  He has been seizure free for 156 days and we are seeing such amazing changes the longer the seizure stay away.  I love seeing him more relaxed and his hands staying open without me needing to even help him get them that way. 

Targets New Adaptive Clothing Line

I posted about our experience with some items from Targets new adaptive clothing line over on our adaptions blog and wanted to share it here as well.


Target now has a line of adapted clothing which includes items for those with sensory issues as well as items with feeding tube openings and those with more room in the bottom for diapers.  The line is Cat and Jack which has sizes up to XXL which means Junior can even wear them.  Best of all the prices are very reasonable and comparable to their typical clothes prices. Cat and Jack adaptive clothing.  
Way to go Target, I hope more variety will be added to the clothing line and we definitely will order again.

We ordered a few items and Junior tried them today.  After trying on the sweat pants I went back to the Target website today and sweats are no longer available. I really hope they are just sold out and will be back again soon.
With the extra room in the tush Junior could easily wear the size XXL youth and could likely also wear the XL youth without an issue.  He also  tried a XL youth size onesie which fit well and we could actually have gone down to a L.
The onesie has two layers, the layer that has the snaps and then a second layer that makes it look like the child is wearing a typical tshirt.  The bottom layer has a g tube opening on each side so you can access the tube easily. We put it over Junior's back brace which worked really well and the sweat pants were big enough to go over his brace.

 Junior trying on the sweat pants, these are over the top of his back brace and as you can see he still has plenty of room in them.  Typically if pants fit him they are much too snug at the top to put over his brace and we have to put the brace over the top of them.

 The onesie, we have the top layer pulled up to show the feeding tube opening.

 Top layer pulled down so it looks like a typical tshirt.

 Sitting up in his wheelchair.  The onesie is keeping his back brace covered which will help keep him warmer in the winter.  Typically when I put him in his wheelchair his shirt comes up on the sides and it is a struggled to keep it pulled down. 

 The top layer pulled up so I can connect his feeding tube. I had been concerned the feeding tube opening would be too small to make it really accessible but it worked perfectly.

  Someone likes their new sweat pants and t-shirt. 

  I did wash the clothes before he tried them on and they still looked new after washing.  Time will tell on how they hold up to repeated wash and wear.
We also ordered a sweatshirt which has a feeding tube opening but haven't tried it yet.

And just for fun Junior and his turkey pumpkin which we made yesterday.

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday the smoke was much better and we were all ready to get out of the house for a while.  We headed about a half hour away to the Fog Willow Pumpkin Patch.  It was great to get out and the temps outside were just right.  My sis came along and so did Abigail and Hannah(a friend from JAF camp who was planning to be at doggy training with us but since we aren't there surprised us by coming to hang out). 
We started out by checking out all the animals which Junior thought was great.  Then of course the many, many, many pumpkins and we decided sharing some apple pie fudge was necessary. 

Animals, animals, animals.  

  


 Pumpkin pics, though I realized after getting home I was not in one single pic. 


 
We all shared some wonderful fudge.  Apple pie fudge and salted peanut fudge.  Junior thought we were all quite funny and didn't mind at all that he wasn't getting any, he much prefers a taste of Dr. Pepper and is not a chocolate fan(I know how can anyone not be a chocolate fan).

  
 

Picking out his pumpkin and looking at the hundreds of pumpkins around.

 

 

 

 

 Abby and her mom

 

 

 

 They found the perfect pumpkin.

Busy, Busy

Things have been pretty busy since we returned from Santa Rosa and it seems like it has been a month not just over a week since the fires hit.  At first I just didn't say much(aside from we just needed to go home for a while and would be back when the air wasn't so bad)about everything to Junior since I knew he would be so upset at leaving.  I quickly discovered that wasn't working and he was more sad/confused/upset.  I switched gears and instead we talked about how yucky the air was because of the fires and how it wasn't safe for us to stay or for the dogs to stay.  Now he daily wants to talk about the dogs, what they might be doing, if they are still hanging out with "buddies" away from the fires, and which ones he liked best.  He now smiles and laughs while we talked about the dogs.  
This past Saturday we hit a huge/gigantic/amazing milestone.  Junior hit 140 days/20 weeks without a seizure.  He has crushed all his previous records and in our world this is a miracle.  One we never imagined seeing.  Today we continue to be seizure free and are now at 144 days, so blessed. 

The smoke was very bad for several days and we had to stay inside and keep Junior on extra treatments and some oxygen. The smoke is beginning to improve and yesterday we even venture out to the pumpkin patch.  We were all very happy to get out of the house for awhile. 
I will do a post about our outing later when I have a moment but for now here are a couple pics.

 

 Studying each other.

 Of course he needed to pick out a pumpkin to bring home. 

The canine companions facility has remained safe and we are excited to find out we will be going back in a few weeks to complete the training.  Please pray that Junior will remain healthy and have increased stamina for the training. 

When Things Don't Go as Planned

Sunday afternoon we loaded all Junior's gear up and with the help of amazing friends(Thank you Kim and Dan for helping out with equipment transportation we couldn't have gotten there without you) we headed to Santa Rosa for two weeks of team training with Canine Companions for Independence.
We arrived and got settled in on Sunday evening and Junior was super excited to be there.

  

We had a meeting that evening then headed to bed and couldn't wait for training to start the following morning.  Very early on Monday morning my cell phone started ringing and texts were coming in asking if we were okay.  I was just a bit confused since I had no idea that during the night a huge fire had hit the area and much of the town we were in was on fire.  I walked out to the main room in the dorm area and could see black, smoke filled skies.  We were told we were safe for the moment but to be prepared for a possible evacuation.  Training moved ahead on Monday and Tuesday as well but on Tuesday evening they made the decision to send everyone home and evacuate the dogs.  The wind was expected to increase on Wednesday and the air-quality was deteriorating quickly. 
Though we knew it was the best decision it was so hard to leave.  Junior had absolutely fallen in love with the dogs and was doing amazing with the training, not needing to take a break or miss a single moment. 
Junior's awesome teacher Cindee came along with us to help out the first few days so we loaded the wheelchair and lift in the back of her truck and found ties to hold it in place.  I really don't know how we got everything home but so thankful we made it home safe(thank you Cindee).
Junior is very disappointed but  I have assured him we will be going back soon to finish training and bring home his dog.
As I watch the news I realize our disappointment is so minimal compared to the devastation others are going through.  Lost lives, homes, and businesses, much of the area looks like a war zone and the fires are far from controlled.  Our thoughts and prayers are with all those in Santa Rosa and the surrounding areas as well as other areas of CA that are on fire.  Also our prayers are with the firefighters and others working to stop the fires and get people to safety.

Even the air here in our town is very smoky and we are needing to keep Junior indoors and on his vent.