This is Lola's friend, Abby May. She passed away Thursday evening after a lengthy battle with mitochondrial disease. Many prayers for her mom, dad and brother as they mourn her loss. Such a sweet girl. 
Well, this will hopefully be the year that we get a handle on Lola's seizures. We've got our fingers and toes crossed.
We are just home from our inpatient (or "impatient") stay at the Alberta Children's Hospital to initiate the Ketogenic Diet. It was rough. First, it's RSV season, and PACKED on the unit - not a bed to spare - so we were at first sharing a room. sigh. So Lola spent a couple of days just trying to run to the other side of the room, dive under the curtain, etc. Second, she was battling a cold. Third, her seizures were brutal. Fourth, she had to have IVIG as well as an EEG all while I was trying to do the Keto training with the dietician.
Anyway, we started out the stay with four meals of "formula" - poor Lola. She was not happy at all. I guess in a way having a cold was a blessing because she wasn't very hungry anyway. After those meals, they began to introduce the Keto meals - problem is, being in the hospital, they weren't exactly gourmet standard. We're talking a teaspoon of applesauce, butter, mayonaise and a piece of cheese. Poor Lola! Anyway, she did okay. We finished off the stay with a 9 hour EEG - she had a ton of seizures while we were connected, which in neuro land is a good thing. The last EEG we had showed no seizures so how are they supposed to know what's going on? Our neuro came in to discuss the EEG with us and he gave us some surprising news - the seizures were coming from the RIGHT temporal lobe - Huh? But her main injury is on the LEFT?? Anyway, this is a good thing in neuro-land because it means that we would have the opportunity for surgical re-section of the right temporal lobe at some point down the road if the diet doesn't work. So we're scared, but hopeful that at least there's another option - and that at least they can pinpoint one area (rather than several) that is causing these debilitating seizures. And that's about all we know. We were happy to see our old pals on the unit - so many amazing people who care so much about their little patients. We were lucky to have Grama and Grama visit to help with Liam - they are heading home today and we'll miss them tons. Liam and Lola have had lots of playing, checkers, crosswords, stories, etc. We were also very happy to have Grampa Ed visit before Christmas - there were so many games played, lights seen, hot chocolate drunk, and much spoiling done. We are blessed to have awesome Grama/Grampas/Papa in our lives.
Lola's starting to wake up so I'd better not be late with breakfast! False alarm.
On a very sad note, late last week, Lola's little pal Abby lost her fight with Mitochondrial Disease. She was a very sweet, feisty, beautiful, determined little angel. Lola has known Abby since her first stay at ACH - and they also went to "school" together at GRIT. We are devastated for the Halford family, but know that Abby is in a better place. Hug your kids tight.
Just had my daughter on my lap - Reading about Lola's status. My daughters school had collected money for Lola the other year. We were reminded of her as we are planning to raise money and awareness for another little girl in our area (Same age as my oldest) that is struggling. You are right about hold your children tight!
ReplyDeleteSadness about Lola's friend Abby. It brought a tear to our eyes. Happiness to see Lola's photos and updates. Bless you all with all the strength to get through these ups and downs. Thanks for keeping people posted on Lola - she is a part of a big Picture! Many people do CARE!