Stockshow & Baptism & Stuff

We had a busy weekend with the Kerriville Stockshow, the pigs didn't do too great, but we're done with stockshowing for the year now. Colten did get in the top 13 of his class, but didn't place. Ashlyn's pig got sifted, but it was stressed with the move to Kerrville and wasn't eating and so didn't look very good at the show.

Here are some pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150605671645908.436809.755340907&type=1&l=e4c835ce32

Then Sunday, we were blessed to become the Godparents of our friends, Emily and Scott's new baby, Emery Jacob Wolf. It was a nice ceremony and we had a great visit after. Even my parents came to watch and they had a good time visiting too.

Here are some pictures of that:

https://picasaweb.google.com/dlynnb/EmeryJacobWolfSBaptism?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPO9lZCu6rv9EQ&feat=directlink

Also, as most of you know, John got injured when a bull kicked a gate, which in turn hit his face. He had to get 8 stitches and had 3 cracks in his cheek bone and also cracked the bone between the cheekbone and nose. He is doing much better now. After the stitches came out, it has been healing fast and looks pretty good already. He still has a hard time chewing on that side of his face, but it will still be awhile before that is completely healed. So thankful it wasn't worse.

And then also Ashlyn had another seizure :( We were done with the stockshow Friday, but she was going to stay and help her friend, Jayde, show her goats on Saturday. Unfortunately, she missed a dose of her medication on Friday morning and also didn't sleep good Thurs or Friday. And, she was also nervous about showing the goats. I think all of this contributed to it. She was with Connie in the drive through at McDonald's Saturday morning when it happened. It only lasted about 30 seconds, but it happened. John went and picked her up and brought her home and she rested the rest of the day. Sunday morning we let her sleep in and she was feeling much better. After this, we decided we'd let her quit athletics. She'd been wanting to, but I didn't think she should. However, she has been feeling so much better and less tired this week since she has more time to do homework and doesn't have to be at after school practice every day. I think this will be good for her. She's taking another ag class now, and will be doing more for FFA, but at least that doesn't require practice every day.

So now, I must resign myself to use a word I hoped I wouldn't need to. I had hoped and prayed that her seizure was just a fluke and she wouldn't have another one. Now that she's had two (that we know of anyway), it is what it is:

What is Epilepsy? (from http://my.epilepsy.com/101/ep101_EPILEPSY)

Epilepsy is a neurological condition, which affects the nervous system. Epilepsy is also known as a seizure disorder. It is usually diagnosed after a person has had at least two seizures that were not caused by some known medical condition like alcohol withdrawal or extremely low blood sugar.  Sometimes, according to the International League Against Epilepsy, epilepsy can be diagnosed after one seizure, if a person has a condition that places them at high risk for having another.

The seizures in epilepsy may be related to a brain injury or a family tendency, but most of the time the cause is unknown. The word "epilepsy" does not indicate anything about the cause of the person's seizures, what type they are, or how severe they are. 

I think this is a good definition, but for me the word has had a stigma. I will have to get over that. It was a strange and mysterious disease that I knew very little about. Now I know it's not a disease, but a condition, kind of like a tendency for migraines, and it describes many, many types of seizures. Thankfully Ashlyn has a tame version that only causes her to stiffen up and lose consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. There are much worse.

The worst part for Ashlyn is the driving. State law says you have to be on medication and seizure free for 6 months in order to drive. Letting her drive terrifies me just a little bit now. I know how teenagers push themselves, she will have to be extra super responsible and aware of how she feels at all times (not stressed or overtired) in order to drive safely.  Ugh, this is going to be hard (as if it wasn't before all this happened!). The other thing is swimming. We will no longer be swimming in deep water where we can't see the bottom. If she has a seizure in the water, she will sink like a rock to the bottom. So scary!

I think she will be ok, as long as we keep her less busy and make sure she is always getting her meds and enough sleep. We will definitely be more diligent about this now.