Keppra Wean

Well Naomi had her last Keppra dosage at 8 p.m. June 21 and so far so good.

She woke up Monday the 22 and had a pretty good sized cluster, before her dose was due, and I just thought "To heck with it!". It had been a week since I dropped her dosage and the Dr. had said every one to two weeks so I just took that out of the equation. If she's gonna cluster on or off the medication I'd rather be with out it.

Well she has been fighting teething for the last week. Her ketones dropped significantly for a full week with nothing done differently on our part. Then this morning they were back up again. So hopefully she's out of the woods with the teeth.

She's been having less than 20 myoclonic seizures in a day. Those are really light too. The other day Bill asked me how she was after her nap and I said "she had 4 but I really had to look for them". Another thing is they seem to be affecting mostly her legs. So it's just her feet turning in that tips me off she's had a seizure. Sometimes she doesn't move at all she just kind of rolls her eyes and you can hear it like it's contracted her diaphragm and pushed air out. Once in a while they'll make her fall. She just did that. She wasn't expecting it and her head dropped slightly and she stumbled backwards and couldn't catch her balance and fell on her bottom. But that's it. I can live with that.

So good days for a while now and we're feeling a little more comfortable and are going to leave Monday for a vacation. Don't tell Isaiah or I'll hear "when we going to Austin's" every 5 minutes until we pull out of the drive!

M.J.'s CPR

Anyone who's trained in CPR knows the first thing to do is get the person on a hard surface. When the caller was talking to the 911 operator he stated that Michael Jackson's doctor was doing CPR on a bed. The operator even said "get him on the floor". Then the caller said Michael was slumped in a chair. It is just odd. Why is it when celebrities die there is always these little details that cause so many questions.
Since the 911 call was first released this has bothered me. This morning on the Today show was the first time I'd heard anyone mention it.
I am so sick of the coverage of all this. How much can there be left for us to know? They're just going to speculate for the next couple weeks until the autopsy comes back. Speculation is not news.

Good News

We seem to have some good news from the oncology doctor at Cleveland Clinic.
My dad has to take hormone shots every three months.

The cancer is in his bone and lymphnodes in his stomach (?), but the hormones will slow or stop the growth of the cancer. The doctor drew an illustration to show my parents that the hormones block the brain from sending messages to what ever produces what we don't want produced.

Also he is eligible for a clinical trial at the clinic. They've always done the hormone treatment then if that doesn't work they do chemo. The doctor said the thought now is going towards, why wait until you're sick. So if he takes part in the trial he will not only take the hormone shot but will take 2 hours of chemo, one day a month for six months! My Dad said he was just doing the shots at firsts, then I got on the phone and said "Dad this is a no brainer! Why wait!? Go after it now!" So he said Ok, he will go ahead with the trial. They won't even have to pay for it! The doctor said all they'll pay is their $25 copay. So all in all it will cost them $150 over the 6 months! Like I said No Brainer!

I'm so happy they went for a 2nd opinion at Cleveland! Those doctors are wonderful up there! Dad said he sat and explained thoroughly everything and answered all their questions. The doctor even told him if he decided he didn't want to do chemo any longer he could stop at anytime. They wouldn't use him as a guinea pig.

Dad's PSA was low. That is a protein produced by the cells of the prostrate gland. They take a blood sample and measure the PSA and they can mark the disease by the levels rising, or something to that effect. There is no "normal" PSA, but generally when it rises above 4 they do a biopsy to check for cancer. Well Dad's was only 2 something. Apparently Dad's body doesn't produce the protein. So it would never have been detected that way.

Also, not about my Dad, but about the clinic. Last week a local news was doing a story about the proposed universal health care. They interviewed one of the heart specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. He said if they can come up with a good plan he's all for universal coverage and we should be ashamed that there are 76 million in this country with no coverage. But then they were talking about why Cleveland has such good care and relatively low cost. Here's why, and I don't know why every hospital couldn't adopt this!! Cleveland Clinic doctors work on salary. The heart Dr. said whether he does surgery or angioplasty he makes the same amount of money. Plus Cleveland has all it's specialist under one roof so there is better communication and a group effort in treatment. There is very much a focus on wellness also. This made so much sense to me! It also made me feel like our Dr. wouldn't order unnecessary tests just because his house payment is due (know what I mean!?).

Well, I'm happy, so very happy and thankful! If not for Akron Children's making me so mad when I went there for Naomi I wouldn't have taken her to Cleveland. If not for the excellent care we've gotten there I may not have insisted my Dad go there for a second opinion. If I hadn't he'd be going through radiation right now that would be doing NOTHING for him!

Everything happens for a reason!

Naomi's Prius

This is my mom and Naomi in what mom calls her Prius. She's sitting in it "reading" a book. She's crazy for books! Why does it seem that bike seats have gotten cruelly smaller since my youth!?

I took her for a ride then Grammy took her for a spin. When you haven't been on a bike for a while you realize how much it works your legs!

No bike riding this week! It's been way too hot! It was 92 degree yesterday with a really high humidity. That was until the evening when thunderstorms came through and all of a sudden it was 66 degree outside!


This is not Naomi in her Prius, it is one of the baby squirrels around our house. You probably can't tell how little this fellow is but he is smaller than a chipmunk and really cute!

Smartypants?

I'm watching the Daily Show on Comedy Central right now and this really cracked me up. It's an example of something I was thinking of the other day.
You know, people in Canada or Mexico, they probably know A LOT about the history of the United States. But what do I know about their history? NADA! I couldn't even tell you who either's president or (as I just realized) if Canada even has a president. I know Canada is sort of ruled by England. I know I can be in Niagra Falls, Canada in about 4 hours. But I'm pretty sure I couldn't name all the provinces of Canada. I couldn't even name 1 of Mexico. What are they called in Mexico? States? Provinces?
Except for the Queen of England and Prince Ranier (spelling may be off)of Morracco. I think the only other ruler could name is Khadaffi (spelling again). I do know who rules Iran but I'll not even attempt to spell that!
Anyway, the Jihad Walking piece on this portion of The Daily Show is very interesting!



Jason Jones: Behind the Veil - Ayatollah You So

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

This makes me mad!

This kind of crap happens all the time! This one was lucky! But just look how many Amish he passes!
There's usually a really sad story that comes out of these types of things. Countless times people have hit groups of kids walking to school. Well, when kids are walking in a group you can bet that some of them are siblings. There are times when 1 family will loose multiple kids to stupid drivers like this.
One of the most gruesome happened when a man ,who's license had been revoked, was speeding and passed on a double yellow line. He lost control of his truck and hit a group of Amish kids. One little boy was hit so hard he was embedded in the front of the truck. I think 4 of the kids were all from 1 family that time.
I just hate to see stories like this!
Who is so stupid they try to out run the cops IN A MINIVAN!????

Happy Father's Day