Mason is a fun, energetic, and friendly child. Mason was born in September 2004
and everything was wonderful, he was a sweet quiet baby. But in
November 2006 Mason's life was changed.
He was only a little over two years old when he had his first seizure. After several admissions to the children's hospital and numerous tests we were left to believe that Mason was experiencing febrile seizures, and the good news was children typically out grow these type of seizures. In the meantime every time Mason would get sick we had to monitor his fevers and be sure to keep on top of them. Mason continued having seizures for almost 18 months. Then they seemed to stop, so we thought we had the right diagnosis and he would be seizure free. That was true until July 23, 2008. The day his baby sister was born he had one of the first seizures that he had in nearly 2 years. He then began having multiple seizures almost every day, some days it would be as many as 20. Mason had had multiple EEGs done. In the past we were not able to capture seizure activity during the tests. This changed in 2009, Mason had to have a stress EEG and he had five occurrences on the EEG. This was both good and bad news. Good because we had finally caught the type and location, bad because Mason was past the five-year mark and we knew this was permanent. He had several CT scans, and MRIs, and finally genetic testing. The genetic testing gave us the answers we were looking for. He was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Glut 1 Deficiency Syndrome with a SLC2A1 gene mutation. To confirm the Glut 1 diagnosis we had to have a spinal tap done. Mason was sedated and the fluid was collected. We got the answers we were looking for. A positive result for Glut 1, which causes Epilepsy. Children with this disease often have other disabilities related to learning like ADHD, which he was diagnosed with last year. He is on medication and it helps but he still has days where he has multiple seizures. The tricky part about Mason is his seizures are very quick usually 30 seconds or so, so if we are not with him every single minute we miss when he has them. Most of the people who are around Mason cannot recognize when he is having a seizure: he just seems to slip into his own little world briefly and then returns to normal. This is why we chose to get Mason a seizure alert dog. With the help of Pippi anyone helping to care for Mason will is able to recognize through the alert when Mason is having a seizure. We can tell by how Pippi is acting when a seizure is coming. She will pace, lick his face, his hands and his feet. If he has a grand mal seizure she barks. |
Olivia is a passionate, caring and gentle child. Olivia was born in July 2008, she completed our family. But at the age of 2 just like Mason her life changed. She was barely two years old when she had her first seizure. Since we had been through this with Mason already we knew what needed to be done. Olivia's seizures were more dangerous than Mason' s had been. She would lose her balance, or just fall down in what they call a drop seizure. We were very concerned. The testing began. Olivia was admitted to the hospital for and extended EEG. The results were negative it showed no activity. We were not surprised, but had hoped for answers. She also underwent and MRI which gave us another surprise, she was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation. Basically her brain extended into her spinal column. We were unsure how this would affect her. We met with a neurosurgeon and they told us we just wait and see, some people with Chiari never have any symptoms, we won't know until she is older exactly how it will affect her. We still did not have the answers we need to why she was having seizures. We decided to make a change to a new neurologist hoping for a fresh opinion and that is exactly what we got. Since Olivia and Mason were both having seizures, they both started having them at the same age, and physically they were very similar in size, and growth genetic testing was our next route. So we were hoping this simple blood draw would give us some clues, and it did. She was also diagnosed with SLC2A1 mutation, which means she possibly also had Glut 1 Deficiency Syndrome. Olivia also underwent a sedated spinal tap, and her fluid was tested. Again we got a positive for Glut 1, which causes Epilepsy. She was on medication but it was causing her to be delayed by about 6 months. She was having frequent tantrums and melt downs. She was very sensory sensitive and got overwhelmed easily. We decided to make a medication change and she greatly improved. She struggles to retain information, which is common for kids with seizures. Olivia has to be kept under a close eye, her seizures are much more physical than Mason's she has generalized Tonic Clonic Seizures. There are nights that she will have 3 -4 grand mal seizures in her sleep. It's dangerous at this point to let her sleep in her own room. There are times when emergency medications have to be administered to stop the seizures. Pippi alerts by licking her feet, face, or neck. She will lay with her and keep a close eye on her for most of the night. Olivia does still have some behaviors which Pippi helps with as well. If Olivia goes into a meltdown and begins to cry Pippi will immediately come to her and either nuzzle her, or lay on her until she is calm. It's amazing to watch. |
Pippi was born on Aug. 23rd 2010. She arrived at 4 Paws shortly after. She was sent to prison for her basic training, then returned to 4 Paws for her specialized seizure training. She was trained for not only seizure work but for behavior disruption as well. She came to live with us in Sept. 2011, she changed our lives forever. She is a huge part of our family. We will forever be grateful that we found 4 PAWS FOR ABILITY!! |
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