Untraceable Paths: Sleep Deprivation

Early Easter morning, four and a half years ago, life for our family changed forever. I awoke to the sound of an otherworldly noise and Tina’s body convulsing uncontrollably. That event began us onto a path where we would discover that Tina was suffering from late onset Epilepsy. That path would include long periods of Tina being home-bound and a non-stop roller-coaster of trying to figure out which medications would strike the best balance between controlling her seizures but also limit the debilitating side-effects of chronic fatigue and loss of focus – that effort has only been marginally successful.

On July 14th 2010, our path took another turn when Tina underwent a five week long surgical procedure where doctors at University Hospitals in Cleveland Ohio implanted multiple electrodes into her brain in the hope that this would allow them to locate the spot in her brain that is responsible for her seizures and then surgically remove that spot in an attempt to control her seizures without medication. Unfortunately after 3 surgical attempts to locating this seizure focus, the clock ran out and the risk of continuing this procedure became too great, so they removed all of the electrodes, and sent her home with very little to show for our 5 weeks in the hospital.

When we left Cleveland two summers ago we couldn't imagine that we would go back anytime soon. Those five weeks in the hospital were very disappointing for Tina and difficult for our kids. However, over the course of the last year and a half, Tina's seizures have become progressively more frequent, and medications have become progressively less effective at controlling her seizures. So, after consulting with Tina's neurologists, it is clear that we are in for yet another turn in the path of life.

We will once again be making the trip to University Hospitals in Cleveland, and on Wednesday January 11th, Tina will once again undergo the same procedure to implant electrodes in her brain to monitor seizure activity in the hope that they can determine the physical location of her seizures and surgically remove it.

This is not a path that we went looking for nor did we anticipate how sharply our lives would change literally over night when four and a half years ago these seizures began. There have been days when we have wondered as to why these things were happening and what God was up to in this. What we have learned is best summed up by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Rome where he said that the paths that God lays out for us are "beyond tracing out." We may not understand this path or where it’s leading us, but what we do know is that we would rather follow God’s untraceable path than to follow any path we could lay out for ourselves. This blog is our attempt to bring others along with us as we walk along God’s untraceable path.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Sleep Deprivation

No seizures again today, so we once again are going to try the self-induced sleep deprivation. We went to bed about mid-night last night and slept fairly late into the morning in preparation for keeping ourselves up most, if not all, the night and then as late into tomorrow as possible. Who knows if this will help but we're going to give it a shot.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: It can't hurt. We love you and are praying this will work.; August 2, 2010 at 9:57 PM
Michelle said...: Good Luck you guys! Do you get to keep the electrode?! Feel free to email me if you get bored. Love you guys!; August 2, 2010 at 10:07 PM
Anonymous said...: We are continuing to pray really hard for you guys!!!! We love you!!

G-Dude and Kathy; August 2, 2010 at 10:21 PM
veronica said...: love the plugged in picture! Great smile! praying for you! veronica; August 2, 2010 at 11:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Still praying . . . .trusting this will work . . .have a good time together staying awake.

Ron and Shelia; August 3, 2010 at 8:25 AM
Anonymous said...: I love you both. I am praying that the right kind of seizures will happen soon but more importantly that you will continue to be close to God and committed to his plan and timing.
Love,
Aunt Carol; August 3, 2010 at 9:59 AM