Over the years of dealing with Epilepsy, we have been very blessed to have had the best of the best to care for our medical needs. Many great doctors, nurses, and specialists have treated us over the years and I am so completely thankful for that. Our medical teams have each been amazing in their own right.

Over 39 years, I have seen a great deal of medical professionals. Some were average but most have been the best I could ever ask for. That goes for my children’s medical staff as well. They truly go above and beyond to meet us where we need it most.

Our newest team of neurologists are just as amazing. I am able to go in with my complete concerns and just hand them over. I am able to request and suggest what I feel is best for my girls and it’s accepted and done. I am so completely thankful for that.

Laycie is coming off of her medication and at this point in our life, we are stopping at half the dose she was previously on. She is now on 50mg of Lamictal morning and night. Previously her dosage was twice this amount.

The higher dosage left her unable to concentrate and retain information daily. Her appetite minimized. Her ability to function was impaired and she was lethargic. My beautiful baby girl was not herself. The medication and the seizures combined to limit her ability to enjoy her life.

Today at half the original dosage, she is eating again. She has more energy. She is more interactive and enjoys every day a little more. Things are far from perfect as she is now a little moodier and still tires easily but overall we are at a better quality of life for her. And we will continue to move forward.

This week she had a follow-up with our wonderful neuro to evaluate where she is on the downgrade and how she is doing mentally and physically with the change. I brought up my concerns, requested that she remain at the level of medication she is now on and I requested we repeat her EEG just to see how her brain is performing and reacting before we go further ahead with the process of eliminating her medication. He agreed that this was the best course of action for us at this time.

Coming off the medication we have noticed that, as I mentioned above, she is a bit moodier. She has meltdowns late in the afternoon when it’s time for her medication to wear off and time for the next dosage. We also notice some jerky, rhythmic patterns of her legs and arms while she’s sleeping, particularly close to time for her to wake in the mornings, which is when her seizures normally take place. These are major concerns that we aren’t willing to ignore and because of this, we have requested the EEG just to see how her brain is reacting and what may be happening in this season.

The ultimate goal is to stop all meds for Laycie but we know that this may never be a reality for her. To live a life as normal as she can possible have is what we hope for. To not need the medication or to find one that works best for her, since her body often reacts negatively to the medication each time, is what we long for. But only with time will we be able to find out if this is a goal that we can accomplish.

So at this point in life, we are at a standstill keeping her dosage level where it is and setting up an EEG to see what is going on in her sweet head right now. Hoping for the best, while we continue on with our life. The EEG is schedule for Christmas time and we are hoping it goes well.

Until next time…
Dana

P.S. I know it’s Epilepsy Awareness Month but our last month of time has been pretty hectic. I’m hoping to get some information and share about our life with Epilepsy as soon as I’m able!

About the Book

Book: The Kitchen Marriage

Author: Gina Welborn & Beccan Whitham

Publisher: Kensington Publishers

Genre: Inspirational romance/Historical America set in the old west

Release Date: September 25, 2018

A bright future awaits the women of courage and faith who boldly chase their dreams across the wide-open Montana Territory, prepared to embrace adventure and forge their own destinies . . .

When French immigrant Zoe de Fleur is forced out of her position as household cook for a high society New Yorker, the pretty and talented chef seizes an unexpected chance to head west for a new beginning. She pursues what she thinks is a prestigious job in the frontier’s “finest kitchen,” but instead finds herself in a matchmaker’s agency . . .

Isaak Gunderson is one of Helena, Montana’s most eligible bachelors, but he’s too focused on running for mayor and his family’s business to think about a wife and family. His twin brother, Jakob, is supposed to be too busy as well, yet sends for a mail-order bride anyway. Isaak doesn’t want to fuel an ongoing rivalry with his twin, but this tempting newcomer can’t be ignored. If only she’d come to Helena a different way and loving her wasn’t a betrayal . . .

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

GINA WELBORN is the bestselling author of sixteen inspirational romances. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers, and serves on the ACFW Foundation Board. Sharing her husband’s passion for the premier American sports car, she is a lifetime member of the National Corvette Museum and a founding member of the Southwest Oklahoma Corvette Club. Gina lives with her husband, three of their five children, several rabbits and guinea pigs, and a dog that doesn’t realize rabbits and pigs are edible. Visit her online at GinaWelborn.com.

BECCA WHITHAM (WIT-um) Multi-published author, paper crafter, and Chai tea lover, Becca and her twelve-foot-long craft cabinet follow her husband of more than thirty years to wherever the army currently needs a chaplain. In between moves from one part of the country to the other, she writes stories of faith that touch the heart. She’s a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a Genesis Contest finalist. Connect with her online at BeccaWhitham.com.

Guest post from Gina & Becca

Dear Reader,

What’s better than fulfilling a dream? Why…taking the journey with a friend, of course. And we have the army to thank for it. Gina, whose father spent most of his army career at Fort Sill, had just moved back to Lawton, Oklahoma when Becca’s husband received orders to Sill. We were both looking for friendship and found a kindred spirit.

When we first conceived the Montana Brides series over Frappuccinos (Gina) and Chai Tea Lattes (Becca) at our local Starbucks, we set out to make our make our mail-order bride stories different.

The first thing we decided on was setting our series in Helena, Montana because, in 1888, the city boasted the most millionaires per capita in the United States. We liked the idea of a former mining town grown into a cultured city and that it wasn’t the usual isolated ranch setting for a Western.

We also wanted to create stories of mail-order bride romances gone wrong. In fact, our original series title was Mail (Dis) Order Brides. We brainstormed all the ways a mail-order bride story could go sideways and settled on our top three: a widow before a wife; two brothers, one bride; and a deceitful—though well-meaning—matchmaker. The Kitchen Marriage is the second book in this series and puts our heroine, Zoe de Fleur, between twin brothers, Isaak and Jakob Gunderson. Like our first bride, Emilia Stanek (The Promise Bride), Zoe shows up in town knowing no one. Does that sound familiar? As a former military kid and current military wife, we are very familiar with needing to start over, forge new friendships, and make strangers into family.

Thank you for taking a journey into the past with us. We pray you find our stories filled with hope, humor, and happily-ever-afters.

Sincerely,

Gina Welborn and Becca Whitham

Blog Stops

Blog Stops
Genesis 5020, November 1

Christian Centered book Reviews, November 1

Carpe Diem, November 1

Cultivating Us, November 2

Remembrancy, November 2

Inklings and Notions, November 3

The Becca Files, November 3

Stories By Gina, November 4

A Baker’s Perspective, November 4

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 5

Texas Book-aholic, November 5

KarenSueHadley, November 6

Luv’N Lambert Life, November 6

Maureen’s Musings, November 6

cherylbbookblog, November 7

D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, November 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 7

SusanLovesBooks, November 8

Book by Book, November 8

Janices book reviews, November 8

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, November 9

Have A Wonderful Day, November 9

A Rup Life, November 10

Baker Kella, November 10

Bibliophile Reviews, November 11

Black ‘n’ Gold Girl’s Book Spot, November 11

Britt Reads Fiction, November 12

Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, November 12

Bigreadersite, November 12

Daysong Reflections, November 13

Vicky Sluiter, November 13

Singing Librarian Books, November 14

Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 14

Giveaway

To celebrate her their tour, Gina and Becca are giving away a copy of The Kitchen Marriage to ten lucky winners!!

Be sure to comment of the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d772/the-kitchen-marriage-celebration-tour-giveaway

My Review:
This is an delightful author collaboration from two wonderful women, Gina Welborn and Becca Whitham. Both these ladies have worked together to create such a wonderful story for our reading pleasure. A beautiful friendship spun into words that leave your heart filled with joy and warmth.

Zoe de Fluer ends up losing her job and finding herself in an agency for mail-order brides. Really, she’s unsure of her next steps in life. Being a chef for a high society NY socialite was the biggest achievement but when it ends, she needs to find a new way to care for herself and the West is new and exciting territory.

In comes Twin Trouble with Isaak and Jakob Gunderson. Jakob is looking for love but Isaak is intrigued by this beautiful lady between his focus wasn’t on business and politics. Plus there’s the fact that she was “ordered” by his own brother. Still there’s something about Zoe that is just beyond explanation.

This one leaves you intrigued throughout the story. Who will win the heart of Zoe? And will they forgive the other when they do? Read it to find out!

My oldest daughter has a diagnoses contracture of Achille’s tendon and idiopathic toe-walking. This means her tendons are extensively tight and she toe-walks but they can find no cause or reason for her to do so. Because she does not have a diagnoses of cerebral Palsy or spasticity due to Traumatic Brain Injury, she was denied treatment that could relax her muscles and correct her walking stance. Toe-walking is not life or death but it does affect her day to day ability to walk, exercise, keep her balance and remain healthy. She is overweight because she has a hard time with physical activity because of her condition. Because it is hard for her to exercise correctly, she has high bad cholesterol at 15 years old. Her neurologist and her orthopedic specialist feel the best treatment for her are injections to relax her muscles and serial casting to complete the stretch. This is better than surgically stretching her tendons and risking tearing. Her first procedure was supposed to begin tomorrow.

Once upon a time, things like this would have been approved right away with little question for children. Now you have to jump through a million hoops to get the healthcare that is needed approved by insurance. We were all set for this to happen tomorrow. We had arranged for it to be done in the morning and Laycie’s neuro appointment in the afternoon. My Mother was keeping Jack at home. All plans were set and she was mentally ready for casts and the procedure to begin, as was I since she will be in these casts for a while until the stretch needed is reached for her.

This is a big part of why Emmalee is just getting this condition corrected at 15 as well. From age 8, when we realized she wasn’t outgrowing it, to age 12, when she began the process of having surgery to correct it, we were passed from Doctor to Doctor to verify the cause, to seek the best treatment before we finally were approved to correct the condition surgically. We watched her a year as she healed, trying different things to correct the final issues and give her a better stretch. We moved and re-established care to now decide on this course of action for her care. But the passing on from one to another and the denials for care have played a huge part on the prolonging of her condition, instead of correcting it.

This is the life of a Special Needs Child, parent and family. This is what we deal with every day, week after week, year after year. And not just us, but so many others. Because there is no apparent cause that satisfies the need requested she is denied even though her toe-walking is extensive and one of the worst physically that most of her physicians have seen.

We will try again for approval but they still may deny the procedure for her. And even as I write this, I wonder how many others are denied for reasons that should not be. Medical care for children should not be such a task to receive.

Emma’s hematology appointment went well. She is clear for now unless her bloodwork shows something odd. Her genetics appointment told us everything we already knew. She is a carrier for Hemachromatosis but it is not a condition for her – she only carries the gene. That’s great news but means that I, myself, may have the condition. So far, everything is coming back healthy and I am thankful for that.

Laycie has a neuro appointment on Wednesday. She’s now on a lower med dose and doing well. Her speech is better, her ability to retain information is better, her attention span seems to be increasing, and her appetite has definitely returned to a more normal place for her. She is having a lot of twitching in her sleep which concerns me. Jerking movement in her feet and arms, tremors, and her tic in her eye has returned though not as badly as it was in the past. I am going to ask for a repeat EEG to see where she’s at on terms of lowering her dosage, if the doctor feels that insurance would approve it and ask that she remains on the lower dosage of meds for now until our next appointment just to be safe for her. Stopping medication is a long process and I’d rather take it extremely slow than rush her off to lead to her having a seizure because of the process moving too quickly for her.

So medically we are at a standstill for treatment until insurance approves what we need and we see where we go from here.

Until next time…

Dana

Okay I’m a little late but Happy Halloween 2018!

We had a great time! We hit two towns nearby and the kids got a ton of candy. We visited all our neighbors who greatly enjoyed seeing the kids.

As a special treat, we grabbed Frostie’s for all the kids between towns. They loved that. Simple things are the best.

We came home to eat homemade chili, chips and have soda as a treat. This is a memory that will last us for a lifetime and I’m thankful we were able to share the experience together.

Until Next Time…
Dana

Let me be honest. Balancing Diapers and Deadlines from Lisa Tanner Writing could not have come at a better time in my life. I’m struggling big time to stay ahead of the game and on top of all the deadlines and appointments that we have to meet right now. Scheduling is falling apart for me. Life is just a huge challenge but we are managing.

I was thankful to see this come up for our team to review as I really needed a kick in my rear to get myself together and back on top of things. I was trained for business and for following a schedule by my high school growing up but it’s been a long time since I needed to put those things I learned then into play. So I knew that Balancing Diapers and Deadlines could help me greatly.

Lisa Tanner really gets it and has a heart for Mother’s, like me, who are struggling to keep life in order. Lisa is a Mother who is meeting deadlines all of her own. Her supportive ways and caring heart have lead her to create this course for others that is beneficial to both her and you.

Balancing Diapers and Deadlines is an online course that you can purchase from Lisa Tanner Writing. The course cost is $50 to get you some sane help in frustrating times and help you get yourself back on track. It’s well worth the money to regain your sanity!

Through this course, Lisa helps you gain perspective on why you’ve started your business in the first place. She gives you sound advice on getting your family involved in the process and helps you create routines and a plan that can truly help you stay on track. She wants to see you get ahead with the business that you choose.

There are 8 units in the course, each containing multiple lessons within the units. Each lesson begins with the point of the lesson, sharing information that helps you gain perspective on what is being discussed. This is followed with tips that relate in particular to that lesson itself. Last there are Action Steps to put into place to help you really put to use what has been discussed.

Each lesson is written out. I didn’t see any videos included. The course is set up much like a book would be and very easy to follow and complete. The course is packed with a wealth of information and ideas for you to put to use immediately. There are downloadable and printable worksheets available to go along with the lessons for the course.

The course is designed to help parents of all stages, from diapers to adult. It’s really well thought-out and encouraging. The course addresses everything from organizing, planning to dealing with special needs while creating a business and keeping it going. I really needed the section called Growing Your Business with a Child with Special Needs. The section on Sleep was also extremely helpful, as being a special needs Momma, my sleep is often lacking. The tips on minimizing decisions was also extremely helpful for me, allowing me to streamline my choices so they are easier for me.

You can find Lisa Tanner Writing online at:

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Disclaimer:

It’s been a fairly good weekend and week once appointments were wrapped up. We surprised my husband on Friday when he least expected it. He says it was the best birthday he’s had in a while. Even today (Tuesday) on his actual birthday, he was surprised.

We just had family gathered but the kids had so much fun helping me throw together a small family party with Don’s favorite ice cream cake, of course! We had root beer and orange soda, we had cake, we had pizza and skeleton plates. It was wonderful!

They each gave him a new fishing lure, because fishing is life to Don. There were a few other neat things given as well: an owl mug, a skull mug filled with Reese’s cups, a Owl ornament, and fish salt and pepper shakers. The kids gave him a card with ice cream on it. I gave him a card about being a great husband to me that featured raccoons camping. And Emma picked out a card that included a Star Wars koozie complete with Darth Vadar’s theme song. Even though Don doesn’t drink, it was a great gift that he really loves just because she picked it out for him.

Tonight, we had roast with carrots, green beans, corn and rice. It was moist and yummy. We had pecan cake with coconut pecan icing to celebrate the day.

It was a wonderful celebration of the man we love and his love for us, which amazes me every day! Here’s to many more, my love!

Until next time…
Dana